Answering The Darkness
by blessskybound
Summary: "The world ended with a bright white flash. Everything fell silent, no engines, no singing birds and no muttering. Then, the screams erupted." It has been years since the earth burned to ashes and humanity fled into the last place inhabitable: The Subway systems. America is gone, wiped off the face of earth in a series of nuclear explosions sent by the Russian government.
1. Foreword

_**The world ended with a bright white flash. Everything fell silent, no engines, no singing birds and no muttering. Then, the screams erupted.**_

My mother used to tell me about the surface. About how life was before the bombs, how it was before everything burned down. It has been years since she saw all of this herself but she told me these stories as if she had seen it just yesterday.

"You should have seen the towers Clem. They were tall, taller than any roof of the metro. Some of their tips weren't even visible. Sometimes they pierced the sky and disappeared in the clouds. The Empire State building was so tall you had to stand in the elevator for a whole minute, not just a few seconds. And at the top you could see the whole city beneath your feet."

I don't remember the surface. In fact, I can't even remember it. I mean that I am not able to do so, it's impossible. I was an infant when everything happened. The Russians and the Americans don't seem to have been very friendly to each other in the past. After the president declared war on the Russian government, they sent all they had. They nuked the living hell out of us. And so did we.

Humanity eradicated itself. After New York got hit, all world started to go crazy. War broke out everywhere. It was everyone against anyone. And we, the common people, suffered the consequences.

Mum used to tell me how it happened. How we were picnicking in the Central Park. Just me, she and dad. She told me that I was happy all the time, even when the sirens came on. Even though everyone screamed and ran to seek shelter, I squealed in delight. I thought it was all a game, thought it was funny. But in reality, these were the last rattling breaths of society like it used to be. Now, there is no society. Everyone is an enemy, the people you meet, the air you breathe, the food you eat. Everything will kill you eventually. The chaos from the nuking remained, living is as unstructured as our retreat was.

My parents did the only reasonable thing there was: They hid in the metro. Since the war seemed really likely for the old government back then, they made a shelter out of the subway systems. Every station got hermetic doors that could seal off survivors from the blast wave and the deadly radiation. Secret stashes of supplies were hidden, weapons, food, protective gear. We found them bit for bit

"The world ended with a bright white flash. Everything fell silent, no engines, no singing birds and no muttering. Then, the screams erupted.", mom told me about her last glance of the surface.

She told me about the big orange cloud that appeared out of nowhere, an unstoppable destructive force, ripping apart anything it found. Stone, metal, wood, flesh, the thing didn't care. The only thing that withstood it were the hermetic doors, the doors of our tomb, enclosing us inside the guts of the earth forever. And this tomb took many lives. It ended the stories I heard; it ended the only persons I had left.

Mum is dead. She died when I was ten. Ripped apart by the monstrosities the radiation produced. Years of genetic alteration changed the animals up there. I can assure you, there's no pigeons or even roaches that look like they used to. And dad. I don't know where he is, who he is and why he disappeared. He was there when mum died, he was in the same overrun station. But they never found his body. Nothing remained of him, no flesh, no bones, nothing. As if he had been reduced to smoke. Whether he died or not, no one can tell. But this fact isn't the worst.

The worst thing is that I can't remember his face. I can't remember how he smiled at me when I brought him a picture I painted. I don't remember his voice. I can't recall the way his dark forehead wrinkled when he rebuked me for something. He is like a phantom, invisible but still there. It's like you are grasping for a word and it lies on the tip of your tongue but you can't get it out.

It has been eight years since this happened. But I still see them. My father, kneeling there with the mutilated body of my mother in his arms, yelling at me to run. I did as he wished. I survived while they didn't. I shed many tears but they dried out eventually. This man found and took care of me. His name was Kenny. Still is in fact. He protected me, built me a new life, one that was nothing like the one before.

My name is Clementine Everett, and this is my story.


	2. Chapter One

_**I will not always be there with you, you need to know how to survive on your own.**_

"All right sweetie, focus."

Tension filled my body as I looked at a distant point in front of me. Pure and utter darkness filled the long tunnel in front of me. Silence ruled the scene, my breath echoed off the concrete barriers surrounding me. My hand laid on the trigger, I would need only a small pull and the deadly projectile would pierce nearly anything I wanted.

The narrow corridor lying before me seemed smaller through the plastic scope, I could see for felt miles. I could almost catch a glimpse of the next barricaded settlement. What I saw instead was a small, ever shifting light. A camp fire burned a couple of hundred meters away, filling the air with the smell of burning wood. Over the flames, a small stick was struck up. It carried a big lump of meat, sizzling with fresh fat.

I heard my stomach rumble as a faint scent of cooked ham filled my nostrils. A shadow next to me shifted to catch a glimpse of my being. Kenny looked at me with caution.

"Don't let the smell distract you. Tell me what you see.", he told me with his slightly rasping voice.

"The camp fire is still untouched. I haven't seen anyone or anything approaching it yet but..."

I stopped and closed my eyes. It helped me to diminish all unneeded senses to leave way for the one I needed the most. My ears twitched at the echoes coming from ahead. A slight rumble and the sound of stones being shifted reached me, definitely something coming nearer. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the shadows in the distance grow denser, becoming more lifelike than they should have.

"...there is something coming. It's big and heavy, maybe one of them.", I concluded. Kenny nodded in approval.

"You're right, someone seems to be hungry out there. Is the safety off?"

I scowled as I flicked the small switch securing my weapon. The mechanism had always unnerved me, I would always forget to turn it off. With an audible click the switch hit its holding and the trigger beneath my fingers felt easier to pull, less resistance to end a creature's life.

"You forgot it? Again? Clem, you know this can cost you your life out there. I will not always be there with you, you need to know how to survive on your own. If you need to protect yourself and can't shoot you are..."

"I know Kenneth, it's the last time, I promise. And now shut up, I need to concentrate.", I rudely interrupted his explanation. I knew how dangerous it could be to have a firearm that wouldn't shoot. A guy on the last perimeter guard had left his weapon in the secured mode and all they had found were some drops of blood and his boots... with the rest of his feet still in them.

He looked at me and furrowed his brows. "Clem...", he said in a dangerously calm way. Tension hidden in his words made me flinch.

"I am still your adoptive father, speak with me like that one more goddamn time and I will leave you grounded for the rest of the week young lady." He pressed out these words, his teeth gritted and a mad look on his face. The two orbs floating in the impenetrable darkness next to me glowed with angry disappointment. A huff of air left my lung as I sighed out loudly.

"I'm sorry Kenny. I just let my feelings overflow a little. I shouldn't have said that."

I could hear him grumble something about "leaving her in another metro station" and "showing no respect" before shooting me a glance and muttering: "I hope you mean it."

I smirked and nodded in response before turning my attention towards the tunnel again. Our conversation had taken only seconds but it had been enough for the shadows to grow. The light of the flames started licking on their shapes, the glistening of their small but vicious eyes reached both me and Kenny at the same time. Seconds, seconds had been enough for a small group of the monsters to sneak up on us.

My voice was only a faint whisper now, just as quiet as a breeze rustling by. "Looks like our friend got some company."

Kenny replied with a tight nod. He didn't have to say anything more. This was my task to complete, not his. I was the one who needed training to survive in the cold and unforgiving claws of the metro.

The plastic grip of the rifle in my hands grew warm and sweaty as I started preparing for the shooting. Excitement flowed through my veins in the complete opposite to the other emotion I had. It was faint and I had suppressed it for years but one of these creatures had ripped my family apart. Literally. The blood of my parents was on their claws, marking them my sworn enemy for ever. There was this small voice in my head, the voice of my father telling me to run. This creeping fear was still there, it could make even the hardest men cry like babies. But I didn't give into it, I needed to be strong like Kenny had told me.

My finger curled around the trigger as one of the nightmarish monsters took a step towards the free meal hanging there. Light coming from the boiling fire made it visible to the plain eye. It stood there on its hind legs, ten feet in height, four fingers and five toes armed with razor-sharp claws. Its head was so far up that the faint shine of the fire didn't reach its face completely but it was sufficient to give every child PTSD.

The ragged nose stood out like a nail looking out of a board. Wrinkles covered its sides, leading the watchers' careful glance towards a gaping mouth. Three rows of wickedly pointed teeth, rows of needles sticking out of raw skin hid the throat of the bestiality.

I recalled old memories from talks with Kenny about his wounds. I had asked him about the long scar going straight through his left eye, a red line meeting the sickish looking milky white of what had remained of the once glowing orb.

"One of the Desmos got me a long time ago.", he had explained me at the bedside. "I was on a small hunting trip with a friend when they attacked. A whole pack tried to rip us in half. One of them slashed at my eye while I was distracted by another. Fucker got me good. But I kept firing, even though they were already feasting on the lifeless body of my companion. I came out barely alive. Docs fixed me up, told me I wouldn't see much on that eye anymore. They were goddamn right about it. But I can still see, just a little worse than normally."

His stories had first terrified and then angered me. I was angry at myself when he came back from a station, beaten up and bloody, merely stumbling instead of walking. I had been angry with myself that I hadn't been there, that I was too weak to go with him. When I had finally hit age fourteen, he had entrusted me with shooting. He had shown me how to use firearms and most importantly, how to suspend ammo. Since the bombs fell, we have started to run low on bullets. Every single one is needed to survive; we even pay stuff with them. Small caliber 5.56 mm shells are used to pay food, clothes and other supplies. Every empty shell can be refilled by the owner, securing another minute of safety.

And now I was almost ready, ready to head out on my own. I just needed to show him that I could win a serious fight on my own. I had told him only to step up when I was lying on the ground in my own blood. I knew he wouldn't let it get that far. His hand remained on his holstered colt, ready to kill anything only closely endangering me.

The creature let itself fall on its front legs, almost looking like a mutilated ugly Doberman. These things had once been bats, changed by the destructive radiation they had swelled in size and lost their ability to fly as they adapted to the narrow tunnels. We called them "Desmos" from their old Latin name they had earned when they had been small and cute. Now, they were bloodthirsty beasts just waiting for another free meal to consume. And that's what we had used against them.

The Desmo slowly approached the sizzling meat above the fire. Its snout wrinkled as it sniffed the air to test if there was any danger. It would have smelled us, hadn't a light breeze from the other side of the tunnel covered our scent. Instead of attacking, it lowered its ugly head and opened its mouth to take a chunk out of the tasty flesh in front of it. I squeezed me left eye shut and followed the movement. The sights of my gun aligned perfectly with the middle of the Desmo's head.

Behind the creature its friends waited for their turn. I could see them shuffle around in the darkness, only small glimpses of their existence getting revealed by the flickering flame. If I wasn't careful and didn't hit, they would pounce and devour us instead of the cooked meal. We would die horrible deaths, screaming and clawing at the beasts to end our suffering. But this day wasn't today. Today was the day I would grow up, today I would show that I was old enough to survive on my own.

With one last deep breath and exhale I curled my finger completely and squeezed the trigger.


	3. Chapter Two

_**Whatever that thing was, its appearance means that we're in even greater danger now.**_

The Desmo fell to the ground with a single shot. The light gave sight to the gaping wound in between its eyes. Brown blood and chunks of brain matter re-painted the wall next to the creature, making the concrete glisten in the once live spending substance. Chunks of broken bone flew through the air and hit the shadows lurking behind their leader. Angry and surprised howls echoed through the air, almost ripping open my ear-drums. The high-pitched yells of grief turned to fury as their primitive brains realized where the attacker had been.

I saw how three of the shadows turned towards me, the shimmering of their eyes giving away their position. If I had been younger, I would have hesitated, I would have waited for them to charge at us before shooting them when they got visible. Past-me was stupid, naive, weak. That's why I killed her. And that's why I wasted no time.

I turned the glass device to the next target, two orbs of fury floating in the unforgiving darkness of the tunnel. The gun rocked in my arms as the bullet got shot out by the force of exploding gunpowder. With a metallic noise the empty cartridge hit the ground next to my ear. In the same second the shell fell, one of the shadows did too. It slumped over and the light in its eyes fizzled out as the bullet sucked the life out of the creature.

Another howl ripped the air apart as the two remaining Desmo's charged at us. Their claws whirled up dirt from the old train rails, producing a big chunky cloud obscuring my vision. The irregular clicking of nails hitting concrete echoed through the whole tunnel as they threw everything they had left at us. I felt my grip loosen and my heart slowly succumbing to fear. These things were bundles of brute force; they knew nothing else than the survival instinct edged into their minds by mother nature.

I couldn't help myself but curse as the next bullet missed its target by a few inches. It whizzed past the ear of the nearest beast and burrowed itself into the wall. Small bits of stone got catapulted out of the concrete, hitting the Desmo in behind and making it flinch. A welcomed chance for me. With an audible crack the lead split its temple, painting the wall brown once again. An almost dog-like whimper escaped its mouth as it felt that the time to die had come. Only one target remained. The last and biggest monster was still out to rip my ass open and eat what remained of my carcass. It wouldn't hesitate to rip out my throat and feast on it while I laid on the ground, wheezing for air.

The trigger beneath my finger bulged as another bullet exited its chamber. It sunk into the shoulder of my opponent, ripping out a small piece of flesh as the 5.56 mm projectile entered the unprotected skin. I heard the Desmo cry out in pain but else than that, the hit showed no effect. I fired again, this time dusting one of the bat-like ears. But the thing continued charging, step for step it came nearer. Only a couple of feet parted us when Kenny decided to act. He pulled out his colt and pulled the trigger a couple of times, peppering the radioactive beast with lead.

But, much to my surprise, it merely stumbled and continued to run. The world was coated in darkness as it pounced at me, its shadow diminishing any source of light.

Time slowed down as my hand wandered behind my back, pulling out my trusted combat knife. Seven inches of cold tempered steal, held by a leather coated grip laid in my hand, ready to slice the soft flesh of an enemy. I pulled it out and held it in front of me in a certain angle to hit the Desmo's neck or head.

The impact hit me with full force. I landed on the ground, knocked out of my balance by the weight of my opponent. I smelled the sickening smell of decay arising from its mouth as he opened it to bite into my torso. I felt the cold hard claws on my stomach, pressing me to the ground with so much force that resisting was impossible. Three rows of teeth got exposed in front of my face, saliva dripped onto my denim jacket.

"Is this it?", I thought, "Am I gonna read the article: *Clementine Everett died this morning on a hunting trip, ripped apart by a Desmo she failed to kill* in the newspaper in hell?" Dreams of how the surface looked like had always dominated my sleep, I had always wanted to get out of this smelling bloody metro. But I had not imagined to get out of the metro in this way: dying. Kenny taught me to be strong, to never give up hope on life and that was what made me continue.

I swung my knife towards the ugly face and earned a yelp in response. It backed off a little, taking away some of the pressure on my body, allowing me to slip away and regain my balance. My knife had slit open one of the small dark eyes, brown goo oozed out of the fresh wound. A growl escaped the Desmo's throat as it turned to face me again. The fury in its eyes had doubled and burned like hellfire. Bright and destructive. Behind me, Kenny was furiously reloading. But if this thing pounced again, he would have no chance, he'd get ripped to the ground as well. All I could do was either waiting for death or trying to make an honorable last stand. Naturally, I decided to go for the second one.

"C'mere you ugly motherfucker!" I lifted the black assault rifle and pointed it at the monster's face. The brown blood coming out of its wound dripped to the ground as it opened its mouth, ready to devour me once again. It got ready to pounce the second I was ready to squeeze the trigger. But the thing didn't jump. It never got the chance.

An invisible force knocked all of us to the ground. I tasted some dirt as I opened my mouth to let out a scream of surprise when something emerged seemingly out of nowhere. Eight feet in height, completely shrouded in black. But the scariest thing about it was, that It didn't look like a monster. It had human shape. Two arms, two legs and a proportional torso. It irradiated intense fear as it approached the Desmo.

The smaller creature howled and tried to flee the scene but it never had a chance to do so. The newcomer extended its hand, four black fingers grabbed the monstrosities head and wrapped around it. All it had to do was squeeze. My former enemy's eyes bulged out, now filled with terror and bloodshot, until its head exploded. There was nothing left of it as the unknown thing lifted its hand again. Only a pulp of blood, brains and dusted bones signified that there had been something resembling a head. The back stranger then turned its head. Towards me. Fear gripped my heart as it approached.

"G- Get away from me!", I yelled at it, terror still clutching my soul. My voice echoed off the walls, increasing its volume tenfold.

But the thing didn't listen. Instead it knelt down in front of me. Whatever that was, I had never seen it in my life before. Its eyes were inverted human ones, a white pupil and black iris. The fear I felt subsided a little, the trembles shaking my body now got replaced with cold shivers running down my spine.

"Wh- What are you?", I asked in a last attempt to communicate.

The humanoid pointed at itself. Yes, pointed. A very human gesture, too complicated for most animals to perform. Then the long finger pointed at me. Even though I was scared like hell, I looked into its eyes. It actually looked like that thing was smiling. Something inside my head said: "Hello." I ripped my eyes open, shocked by what I had just heard.

"Get away from her you son of a-", Kenny screamed behind me and interrupted this special and strangely miraculous meeting. His last words were replaced with the heart-rendering bang of a pistol.

The stranger yelped out in pain, but not out loud. I heard it's voice in my head yell out "NO!", before it turned around and melted back into the darkness. It was like it had dissipated into smoke, like it had been a part of the tunnels. Nothing remained of it, no evidence that what I had seen hadn't been a trick of the light. Oh yeah, hadn't there been a mutilated carcass of a Desmo with its head missing.

Kenny dropped his colt and ran towards me, arms wide open.

"Oh my god, Clem! I thought you were done for it! I'm so sorry I couldn't help you, this Desmo just-", he told me with rattling breath and tears streaming out of his eyes. It was rare to see him crying. I once saw him coming back from perimeter guard with bullet wounds and he hadn't shed a tear. Even when the doctors had removed the lead out of the bleeding holes, he hadn't cried. He wasn't even on painkillers. And even though he hadn't cried back then, he did now. For me.

"It's okay Kenny, I'm fine. I'm fine...", I replied while giving into his warm hug. His strong arms coated me with a feeling of safety. I closed my eyes and sighed, a smile stole its way up into my face.

"Are you? You're bleeding, lemme see that."

I hadn't noticed that I was wounded. It was now that I felt blood dripping down into my right eye, shrouding the world in a light red mist. When I raised my hand to my forehead, Kenny stopped me.

"We don't wanna risk an infection, do we? Leave your fingers out of there.", he suggested. He was right but that didn't bother me. It was the look in his teary eyes that made me frown.

"What is it? How does it look?", it escaped my lips. I wasn't scared but angry with myself and curious of how the hell the Desmo had gotten a jab at me.

"It's gonna be fine.", Kenny answered roughly before softly adding "But it's prolly gonna leave a scar sweetie..."

Instead of listening to his advice I raised my fingers and touched the spot where I expected the injury. Ever been hit with a jackhammer? No? Well, it felt like that. Stars exploded in front of my face as my fingers touched the deep jagged cut. I stumbled at the sudden feeling but Kenny prevented me from falling.

"Woah there, what did I just tell you?", he cursed and heaved me onto his shoulder. While the world started getting shapes again, he carried me to the campfire. There he pulled out a small box out of his trousers and opened it.

"There we go...", he muttered as a small surgical plaster found its way into his hands. One of his hands laid on the two sides of the cut whilst the other help the plaster.  
"This is gonna hurt Clem.", he warned me as he pressed the two sides of hurt flesh together. A pained moan escaped my throat as the flesh got stretched to its limit. I felt the cold plastic stick to my skin as Kenny placed the plaster on it and poured alcohol out of his flask on it. The pain first intensified until it got more bearable, only a low throbbing remained in place of the stinging.

"All better now.", Kenny stated and smirked. "It wasn't too bad, was it?"  
"Apart from stinging like hell and my face probably being ruined it wasn't that bad.", I laughed out and slowly massaged the back of my head where the stone floor had collided with my skull when I got pushed down.  
"Your first scar earned in battle. I think this deserves a toast!"

Kenny took a sip out of his flask before shooting me a glance and passing it on. I followed his example and instantly spat out. Coughs rattled my body as the alcohol hit my throat.  
"What is this shit?", I demanded mid-coughing.  
My adoptive father sat there, curling with laughter.  
"It's the cheap stuff, they make it out of turpentine. It tastes like shit but once you adapt to it, it kicks like a mule.", he revealed after he had calmed down a bit.

I took another sip to prove I could do it and instantly, my stomach started burning, as my throat did too. But a comfortable warmth spread in my guts, slowly but surely making its way up my back to the back of my head.  
"Brrr, that's some strong shit right there.", I noted before throwing him the flask again.  
"Huh, I told you."  
Kenny's grin lit up the tunnel, I couldn't help myself but laugh at his smirk.

After a while I started thinking about what had happened. The strange shape emerging out of the darkness might haunt my dreams forever. But it really bothered me that it had _spoken_.Human words out of the mouth of a radioactive creature. Had it been my imagination? Or was it just some weird kind of trick to lure me into safety. But why hadn't it attacked then?

I turned to face Kenny, he saw my face and instantly knew about what I was thinking. His eyes widened before shrinking again. Before my eyes his size decreased, his shape seemed to get smaller until it was nothing more but a spot of dark shadows.  
"Kenny...", I started and slid across the concrete ground to be next to him. "I know you saw the same thing I did. What in god's name was it?"

He hesitated before taking another sip of alcohol.  
"I don't know Clem. This _thing,_ it made me feel helpless, scared. Just the way I felt when I picked you up. I-"

Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "I was so scared to lose you, you know. After all what happened to Katjaa and Duck..."  
His son and wife. Both had been there in the faithful night; at the same station my parents had been. Their corpses had been so ripped apart that it took the station three days to confirm their identities. At that time, they had been rotting so badly that Kenny couldn't even sob due to the toxic gases trapped in the small mourning room. It had been horrible. It had broken something inside him. Now, I was the one to live at Duck's place. He loved me like he would have loved a daughter.

"I'm here Kenny, I'm okay. You saved me...", I told him and sat down next to him, comfortingly laying my arms around him.  
"It was close Clem. Too close. I shouldn't have brought you here."  
And that was like another hit with a jackhammer.  
"I am eighteen and I can make my own calls Kenny. It isn't your fault.", I said, now a little pissed off. I had survived, hadn't I? I would have killed the Desmo without the help of the strange creature too... Probably.

"I know but- What if something had happened to you? What if that other thing would have crushed you like it did with the Desmo?", he stuttered out. His concern about me was heart-melting but it was somewhat pissing me off too.  
"It didn't, that's all that matters.", I hissed at him. His hurt expression made me regret this gesture immediately. "Sorry, it wasn't supposed to come out that way...", I muttered and shifted around uneasily.  
"I know...", he responded and gulped down the last bits of the remnants in his flask.

"But Clem..."  
I turned to look at him and our eyes met. I could see the worry and the pain behind them, all the bad things that had happened flashed around in his soul.  
"Yeah?"  
"Please stay safe out there if you really head out alone. This thing... I have never seen it before. It was...different. Whatever that thing was, its appearance means that we're in even greater danger now.", he told me while standing up and taking his weapon from the seat.  
"We head out in ten. Pack your stuff. Let's get back home." 


	4. Chapter Three

_**I hate to spoil the good mood right now but we will have to talk about what happened to you out there.**_

The 181st Street station isn't much of a big deal. It's basically two rows of asymmetrical houses next to the old rusty rails. But it's my and Kenny's home. I spent eight years of my life here, slowly getting over the death of my parents. It hadn't always been easy with Kenny being on tour and me having to stay behind and watch the house. 181st had regular visits by bandit groups, looking for a fresh new victim to rob. Or worse.

That's why Kenny trained me how to defend myself the day we had arrived here. It had been a week since we had left our old destroyed home near the central park. I was still not able to talk back then. In fact, I had a short phase in which I developed mutism. I didn't talk for months, not that I didn't want to. Every time I would open my mouth, I would hear my agonized screams. The same ones I had given out when the Desmo had gotten to my mother. God, the scenes haunt my sleep even now. But the day I finally overcame my fears is just as edged into my mind.

It had been in the early hours of morning. A small caravan had set foot into our station, a rare sight due to us being practically at the end of the line. Kenny and I went out to see their merchandise just like the whole station did. We were just two shadows blending in into the crowd, trying not to attract any attention. We needed some food, maybe some clothes and meds, things that had been easy to get ten years before. But now it's a struggle to get hold of such essential supplies. Inside the metro we have a limit. There isn't enough to keep us going forever. Someday, all the stuff will be gone, leaving us without protection, food and water. This will be the day everyone dies. If we don't decide to kill each other before that.

But wandering salesmen make their profit with this. They can press out the smallest big of cartridges out of your pocket when they want to. I still remember the small cart on the rails. Comfortable looking brown leather seats, glistening steel wheels with no trace of rust and polished wood on its sides. The merchant inside looked wealthy, a mask of pride and arrogance laid on his face.

"Good afternoon, how can I be of service.", he asked in a very formal manner.

"We're just lookin' around.", Kenny answered harshly, brushing off the nauseated look the man gave us two. We must have looked like beggars but the jingling of cartridges in our pocket made him rethink his behavior.

"We have all you need, from food to weapons. Just ask if you need to hear the price." With a last glance back to us, he turned around to help a new customer who looked just as wealthy as he did. And there it was. The electrical lights over our heads got reflected by the elegantly curved blade. The leather-coated grip looked smooth, inviting me to grab hold of it. The black combat knife just waited for me to buy it.

Kenny had seen the fascinated look on my face and knelt down to level our eyes.  
"You saw that knife, huh? You wanna have it?"  
My heart jumped in my chest and I nodded furiously, pointing my big puppy eyes at him. His mouth curled upwards in a smirk as he said, "All right then sweetie, Imma ask what we gotta pay for it. Hey?! What does this one cost?"  
The merchant turned around; his gaze caught by the item in Kenny's hand.  
"Hm, 75 cartridges."

Kenny's eyes widened as he heard the unbelievable price. "75?! Jesus!", he exclaimed and put down the knife again before telling me, "That's all we have. I'm sorry kiddo, we can't afford it."

I looked down at the ground, sadness seeping into my heart. Kenny patted my head, his hand dampened by the soft cloth of my hat. This could have been the end, wouldn't have a new figure appeared. A boy, maybe two years older than me, carrying a box to the cart and placing it inside. The merchant patted the boy's shoulder and said, "Thanks son. Now please help these people here." The guy scowled before hopping onto the cart and making way towards us. Right before he reached us however, he put on a big smile. "Welcome to our little shop, how can I be of service?"

I didn't say anything, instead I kept looking at the knife. The beauty of its grinding mesmerized me. He saw it too, the expression of sadness. With a quick glance back to his father to make sure he was occupied he said, "You sure want to have that knife, don't you? Have it, take it for ten cartridges. I'll just tell him I sold it for a hundred."

A smile and gratefulness overcame me as he passed me the smooth handle. The weight on the weapon was perfect and even though I was still small the handle fit into my palm almost immediately. I looked up to see some kind of confirmation that he was serious. A warm smile from him was all I needed. Pulling out a handful of currency I opened my mouth to speak for the first time in months. "Thanks.", I whispered shyly.  
"Why, no problem!", the boy exclaimed and laughed, "You deserve it, not some smelling old guy with his pants bulging with money."  
I giggled in response as this image filled my mind.  
"You can call me Louis by the way.", the boy added.  
"I'm Clem, Clementine."  
He grinned and his even white teeth were in perfect contrast to his dark freckled skin. "Well then Clementine, I hope we see each other again."  
"I sure hope so.", I replied with a smirk before saying my goodbye's and returning to Kenny.

Since then, Louis and his father didn't come back. I don't know what happened to them. Maybe a bunch of bandits got their loot by robbing and killing them, maybe they just didn't have the time to get here, who knows. Even though I would have wished to see them as a reward for completing my challenge, I got another one when Kenny and I returned from our hunting trip. When we arrived at the first perimeter, we got stopped by the border patrol.

"Oh Kenny, it's you. How's it going Clem?", the sleek guard asked and lifted the visor of his iron plated helmet.  
"Going great Gabe, I did it.", I told him with a smirk while holding out my ID. He took a quick look at it, made a small note in his book and then proceeded by saying, "Congrats! Doesn't that deserve a small party? You can come over to Mari and me and have some drinks at the bar if you want."  
I felt Kenny's gaze burn into my neck as I said, "Great, why not? Thanks!"  
Gabriel exchanged a pleading look with my adoptive father until I heard his rough voice echoing behind me. "Urgh, fine. I think you deserve it Clem. Just be back before blackout, okay?"

I turned around and put on a smirk while raising my eyebrow and cocking out my hip.  
"Am I a baby that needs to get back before nightfall?"  
"That's not...god, you know how to get a smile out of me every time.", Kenny laughed out before planting a kiss on the forehead and heading towards the station. Affection got carried in this gesture, he really saw me as his daughter and tried to make me feel comfortable. Instinctively I wiped my skin on the spot he had kissed. "Bad idea.", I thought and hissed as my wound got shifted around painfully. Gabe looked at me and I could see that he was trying not to laugh. Amusement flickered in his eyes.  
"Looks like you _did_ have some problems with your task."  
I punched him in the chest and laughed. "Oh fuck you! I didn't pay attention for a sec. I'll tell you later in the bar, okay? See ya then."  
"Yep, see ya.", he responded and picked up his rifle from the nearby table before returning to his little watchtower. I still heard him giggle as I passed the perimeter and entered the brightly lit station.

As I said before, 181st isn't a big deal. There're only six houses in there, each one with a different number of apartments. We built the houses with old steel plates that got hidden by the government for just that purpose, it doesn't look very nice but it does give you a sense of privacy. Funny thing to note is that most of the doors here come from the surface. Yes, they come from the bombed and radioactive surface because we didn't have any down here. There are quite a small number of people who have the balls to dress themselves in protective gear and get their asses out into the post-apocalyptic Manhattan. And they can bring everything you want down into the tunnels, as long as you pay the right price of course.

Kenny and me though, we have a contact. He is a stalker, that's what we call them, the guys who walk the scorched earth up there. He has no name, or he didn't tell us any at least. That's why we just call him "Vulture", just as anyone else does. He seems to have fought in some of the wars that raged around here, he always wears a necklace with name tags and a small figurine of a bird around. Which is the vulture of course. He brings me stuff from time to time, postal cards, books, he once even brought me a real bottle of whisky. (Not that I told Kenny)

Our apartment is one of those that lay near the entrance zone so we could make a quick escape if something happened to this station. We had both seen what happened if you were too slow.

I walked through the small crowd running along the rails until I reached our small but cosy home. With small hops I jumped up the stairs leading up to the sidewalk, the steal underneath me wobbled and creaked as the mass of my body hit it. The door was closed so I pulled the handle down, the metal was still warm from Kenny entering just a few moments before. Hinges creaked as the brown colored wood swung to the side and revealed the spartan fashioned interior.

A table with two stools and a couch were all there was in the living room. Red carpets covered the concrete floor to make it feel at least a little like a house. I quickly stripped off my shoes and threw them next to the door before taking my rifle off my shoulder and carefully putting it next to Kenny's. We both used the exact same weapon. A black pair of M16 rifles, well oiled, loaded and always ready to fire. I had learned to love this weapon. Ammunition was easy to find, the accuracy was astonishing and even though it didn't possess an automatic fire mode like most weapons did, it was a machine of destruction.

"Clem? Is that you?", I heard Kenny call out from his bedroom.  
"Yeah, it's me!", my voice responded before I had thought about it.  
"Good! I put something in your room. I got this a little while ago and just looked for the right moment to give it to you. I figured now was a good moment."  
His voice was dampened by the door but it didn't dampen my anticipation. Not even three seconds passed until I had pulled off my backpack and ran to my own little personal space. It wasn't very big, just enough room for a desk, a bed and a small shelf. But it was way more than Kenny had. And on my beloved bed, a small parcel was put. A small cord of colored cloth was bound around it to make it look like a present.

I covered my mouth to suppress a yelp as I stormed towards the box and slowly untied the knot. The box felt quite heavy when I heaved it onto my lap, a low metallic rattling came out of it. My hands closed around the lid while my heart was beating like a big drum inside my chest. The rough surface of cardboard slid over my palm as I opened it.

The glistening metal surface was pure beauty to me. No edges that stood out made the picture imperfect. The receiver was sleek and had a hard kind of grace as I pulled the gun out. It felt good in my hand, the grip was not jagged like it was for most handguns, it was smooth and warm. With a careful move I unloaded the magazine, it fell out with the delicate sound of metal sliding on metal. Music in my ears. Remembering the lessons Kenny had taught me I pulled back the slide to check if a bullet remained in the chamber and my suspicion had been right. The small caliber projectile fell out into my palm, cold but quickly warming up.

"I see you like it."  
I flinched and turned around as the voice sounded behind me. It hadn't been Kenny's though, but I did know it. The person standing next to the man who had seen me grow up in the last eight years was tall, a little bit taller than him. A black helmet concealed his face, not leaving me any clue to how he really looked like. He was muscular and the lead armor he normally wore sure had provoked the sudden change in muscle development. It was vulture. 

"I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!", I screeched and jumped up to hug him. His necklace chimed as our bodies collided.  
I snuggled myself up to him and I could hear him first laugh and then sigh out. His chest heaved up and downwards as he did so. Next to him, Kenny hummed as he saw the adorable scene.  
"Vulture and I planned to give this to you once you proved that you were adult. We figured you would need it out there.", he explained with a continuous smirk. I gave him a hug as well and couldn't stop thanking them.

"Let's sit down and chat a little.", vulture suggested after a while and pointed at the invitingly looking couch. Kenny and I did as he asked and flattened out on the comfortably feeling cushions. Vulture grabbed a stool and sat down in front of us. He pulled three small bottles containing a long-missed beverage. Made out of sugar and felt thousand other ingredients it had been impossible to manufacture good old delicious Coca Cola.

"Jesus, where did you find that?", Kenny asked and snatched one bottle out of the man's hand while I grabbed the other.  
"I found an old prepper hideout. These aren't contaminated so we don't need to pop anything before drinking. Cheers!", our friend defined and raised the bottle to his lips. But Kenny and I hesitated.  
"You know how much you can get on the market for this...", I said whilst shifting around uneasily. Generosity this big was really rare and I didn't know how to react. Vulture sipped on his soft drink and shrugged.  
"And? Do I look like I would give up this opportunity to make you happy for a few cartridges? Drink it, really. I know you haven't tasted it in a long, long time.", he teased and smirked to ease the atmosphere.

I thanked him one last time and took a small sip. The sweet taste instantly filled my whole mouth and I closed my eyes in delight. I felt like every cell in my body awoke from slumber and my brain got a big boost. When I opened my eyes again, everything looked sharper than before.

"Ahhhhh...", I sighed and planted the glass bottle on our table, watching out not to spill a single drop of the valuable drink. Kenny followed my example, his eyes widened as the taste hit him with full force. The smell now coated the whole interior and I breathed in to catch every single whiff of it before it disappeared.  
Vulture put down his bottle on the ground and pulled out a small notebook out of his pocket. The moment I saw the look in his eyes I knew what he wanted to write down on it. He looked me and Kenny in the eyes and I saw the other side of his personality. The cold and scheming part of his soul he needed to survive in the over ground wasteland.

"I hate to spoil the good mood right now but we will have to talk about what happened to you out there."


	5. Chapter Four

_**Have you ever considered it being a trap? A lure? A primitive recall of once collected memories?**_

The pen in his hand was shaking, constantly tapping against the paper. Quiet remained almost unbroken except this echoing sound.  
"So, how about we start at the beginning?", vulture suggested as the silence started filling the room. Kenny and I blankly stared at each other, not sure of what to tell our visitor.

I was the first one to find my voice again.  
"So, I suppose Kenny told you then.", I said to confirm my worries. Something inside me to told me that it would be bad if the whole metro would find about about this new creature roaming around. A mass panic would be the least thing that would happen.  
The stalker nodded and shot my mentor a glance.

"He did indeed. I know you were out there to prove you're ready to fight. And I can imagine that you are just as strong as Kenny described you. But that thing overpowered both of you in seconds. And then it tried to do something to you. I hope you can understand that something like that can't exist on my watch."

It was like lightning had struck me, every muscle in my body tensed as he said that.  
"You- You want to kill it?"  
"Yes."  
My mind was instantly dominated by the controversial question whether the strange humanoid had wanted to harm or help me. This voice that had echoed in my head had sounded far from vicious. But since the bombs, everything had changed so massively, that it was hard to differentiate between friend or foe. I had heard stories about a dog-like creature that roamed the south west parts of the metro. It was said to be able to imitate the voice of a little child calling out for her mother to lure in any survivor who was kind enough to help. Could this thing be similar?

"Clem?", Kenny asked and gently touched my shoulder and ripping me out of my thoughts. I flinched as his hand lowered itself on the soft cloth of my denim jacket, surprised by the sudden change of pressure.

"I- I-", the words left my mouth in a forced manner, I didn't know what to say. "I don't know if it is bad..."  
The eyes of the stalker followed me beneath the black tainted visor of his helmet, cautiously studying my expression and behavior. A cold shiver ran down my spine when I saw the cold, unpredictable beast inside of him, waiting to be released on the battlefield.  
"What do you mean with that?" 

"It talked to me, like a human. I heard it say "Hello" and it tried to defend me...I think...", I explained my mind to him. This voice still echoed in my head, even now I could hear it whisper from somewhere far away. It was like an echo, quiet but ever repeating.  
Vulture remained quiet and kept observing me. It almost felt like an X-Ray, as if he could see right through me. I knew he could hear the doubt in my voice and see the insecurity riddling my eyes.

He broke the silence once more when he leaned closer to me and the chair creaked loudly beneath his shifting mass.  
"Have you ever considered it being a trap? A lure? A primitive recall of once collected memories?", he asked me. "There is some creature out there that have psychic influence over us, I can tell you. I have killed some of them already."  
He put the pen onto the notebook and laid it onto the small coffee table before pulling out a small colored picture. He first passed it on to Kenny who took a short glance at it. His eyes widened as he started to realize what picture had been frozen on paper for eternity.

"Jesus Christ...", I heard him mutter under his breath before he gave me the rough photograph. At first it seemed okay; it was the picture of a small side tunnel. It looked like one of those we had around here, old maintenance hallways dug and never to be shown on maps. Nowadays it was known routs to smuggle or for military transports.

I looked closer and examined the part that was lightened up by the low light of a flashlight. My eyes were ripped wide open as I realized that the walls hadn't been painted with red color like I had initially thought. I was blood, dried up blood coating the whole wall next to a pushed over cart. Empty shells covered the ground where the steel rails had been ripped out of the ground. And the narrow light of the torch didn't stop there.

The thing lying on the ground had once been human. Now, everything that was left was a torso with something that may have resembled a head when it had actually been living. The grotesquely gnawed off face of the soldier stared right into the camera. Hollow sockets filled with darkness seemed to pierce through me as I stared back. Behind the first victim I spotted another bunch of casualties. Their once green clothing had been darkened by the impossible amount of blood littering the floor. Their limbs were spread everywhere. They had been ripped off as if a sadistic child had mistaken them for flies and pulled out their legs out of the sockets.

I couldn't stand it any longer to watch upon the horrors of the happening and flipped the page over. A small note was written onto the back.

_July 2027, near Maiden Ln., six losses and one survivor_

"That's pretty recent.", vulture commented and took the picture out of my hand. He then proceeded to fold it and secure it in his pocket again. My mouth was still open from the shock as I realized almost too late when Kenny shot me a funny look. I quickly sealed my lips and cleared my throat.  
"What happened there exactly?"  
Vulture's hand rested on his pistol and I could see how it clenched around the grip, making his knuckles get white from the pressure. A pained expression remained in his eyes as he stated:  
"A military caravan got ambushed by a strange creature. Like you saw already, there wasn't much left to bring back to their families."

The stalkers head fell down, his face was now pointed at the carpet beneath his feet as a loud and sad sigh left his mouth. One of his hands travelled to the closed visor of his helmet and opened it. Dark eyes surrounded by the smooth black skin peeked at me as he wiped off a small film of sweat on his forehead. The thirsty fabric of his gloves adsorbed the salty water as they glided over it. Vulture then closed the plastic again, sealing any more hints to his facial features away. I did see the beginning of a scar though, the white jagged cut running along his cheeks. Guilt flashed in his eyes as he noticed me tilting my head to get a closer look at his face.

"Some of them were my friends.", he explained and slowly shook his head. "I knew their families. Was hard to explain they got ripped apart by something that spoke in their heads..."  
Stalkers are pretty tough; they wouldn't even flinch if someone shot them in the chest. But seeing this sentence being said with so much pain within by one of them made me frown once again.  
"Sorry, I didn't know...", I told him and placed my hand on his broad shoulder. He flinched and shrugged me off. It hurt to be brushed off like this but he had all reason to do so.

"The sole survivor told us about them being led into a trap by the voice of their loved ones before being attacked by something seemingly emerging from the wall. Doesn't that sound an awful lot like your stranger?"

The air left my lungs as the shock and the realization hit me. What vulture was talking about did make sense, the evidences and parallels did fit into the appearance of the strange creature in the tunnels. The voice I had heard had been awfully close to the one of my mother's and the especially brutal way it had killed the Desmo... Could it be true?  
"I... I don't know. You might be right...", I said and looked at the ground. I felt somewhat guilty, practically sentencing an unknown convict of the metro to death. But all I could do was to trust the stalkers instincts.

There was one question that still burned on my soul, seemingly scorching me from the inside.  
"What are you gonna do?"  
The man looked at me and his eyes were filled with protectiveness towards me.  
"I will track that thing down and crush it so it can't hurt anyone close to me anymore."  
I shook my head in disbelief. This day had taken such a quick turn after that thing had come out of nowhere. It had all been supposed to be a normal hunting trip to ensure I was ready to fight on my own but now... This all had gotten way more complicated than it should have been.

The stalker arose from his seat and emptied the soda bottle in one big gulp before placing his baclava back on his mouth, covering up the small curly beard sprouting there.  
"I will see what I can find out here and then head over to the next station tomorrow. If you need me or you remember something you need, don't be afraid to ask around where I got myself an apartment.", the tall figure said and started to walk towards the door. He stopped at the kitchen table however and picked up a cloth lying on it.  
"Look what we have here. This cappy sure is something special Clem.", he murmured before turning around and placing it on my head. The softness of the fabric instantly surrounded my hair and I felt comfy with wearing it.  
"Well thanks, I got it from my Dad.", I answered and fidgeted around on it a little to find the perfect position.

Vulture looked at me and said, "That man sure was lucky to have someone like you, eh? Would have been proud to see you like this, all grown up. And you know what? Stick to that hat, it looks great on you."  
A slight blush stole its way up into my face and I felt the heat in my cheeks rising up.  
"I will. Be safe out there."  
"Watch your six!"  
And with those last words he left the house, carefully closing the door behind himself. 

Kenny looked at me and I could see pride in his eyes. I had tried to make myself pretty for the party today and therefore decided to finally use the chance and style myself up a little. It may have been not pretty for the standards of the old age but for the age of the metro, it was perfect. My denim jacket now looked fresh and clean, the buttons on it glistened in the electric shine of the low hanging lights. The white hoodie I was wearing underneath was completely new, no blood stenches had ever marked the outside, nor had spots of sweat touched the inside. The sleek hilt of my knife prodded out from behind my back, signalizing to every bandit that I wasn't easy prey. The black leather of my boots now looked almost flawless, only small spots marked occasional flaws that couldn't be helped with cleaning. My hair was freshly washed and combed, most of the irritating knots inside the curls had now disappeared after being treated with enough soap and brute force with the comb. A nice smell of vanilla drifted out of it, making my presence more enjoyable than when I had smelled like a skunk. And finally, my hat. It may have looked a little bit tattered but it fitted in well with the whole look.

This hat meant more to me than any item I had. And if I was honest, I would even sell my knife to get it back. My Dad had once given it to me as a present, it had marked my seventh birthday. Since then I had practically never taken it off, unless things were obvious to get dirty. That's why I had left it at home by the time of our hunting trip too. I just didn't want to risk the dark colored blood to stick to it forever. However, there was one long bloodstain on it. It was of my mother's blood. When the Desmo had gotten hold of her, I had cowered not far away in a doorway. I had seen everything and even got unlucky enough to catch something of the sprays of blood that got catapulted away from the one sided battle. It reminded me of how much I had lost just as much as how much luck I had had. Finding Kenny had been an answered prayer after running around for hours in the lonely hallways. And the hat had always been there with me.

"My my Clem, you look so beautiful.", my mentor noted and shook his head while grinning. The pride in his eyes made me as red as a tomato as he looked at me.  
"I didn't know to choose between practical and good looking so I tried to find a path in between...", I stuttered out to hide the fact how embarrassed I really was.  
Kenny's smile widened as he commented, "Well, you nailed it! The guys are gonna fly after you like bees after sweet nectar."  
"Kenny stooop!", I screeched and pushed him back to get through the small hallway connecting our rooms to the living room.  
"What's wrong about telling the truth?!"

His laughter carried after me until I had reached the door. My hand was lying on the knob already as the man pulled out a small bag and pulled a magazine out of it. He squeezed it into my palm and covered my mouth with his free hand as I tried to decline the money.  
"Here's your payment. You really earned it. Now, have some fun with your friends. Off you go.", Kenny said before softly pushing me towards the door again.  
"But Kenny, I-"  
My last attempt to give him back the money failed as he had planned ahead and closed the door on me. A chain rattled as he locked the flat up tight before opening up a small slit to add, "Oh yeah, don't you come back before Blackout! I want you to have some fun after all that shit."  
And with that, he closed the slit again, leaving me standing in front of a locked house in midst a thinning crowd of people heading back to enjoy their time with family after work.

"Well", I muttered, "I can't say no to an offer like that I suppose." I checked my inventory one last time, knife, handgun and money were all safe and sound tucked away in the right places. With one last tuck on my clothes and hat, I walked down the rails to meet up with Gabe and Mariana.


	6. Chapter Five

_**Get...out**_

"Are you serious?! A dark shape?"  
Gabe stared at me with amazement, his eyes widened and his mouth was opened to the brim. I had just told him and Mariana about my strange encounter outside of the perimeter and both couldn't believe me. Gabe's sister looked at me with scepticism in her eyes and shoved back her long brown hair.

"So, you're really sure that it wasn't imagination? That the tunnels tricked you into seeing that?", she asked and sipped on her cup filled with a cocktail. I looked back at her and shook my head, grinning like a madman.

"Tell that the Desmo, I don't think its head crushed itself!"  
The joke hadn't been good but the alcohol was slowly starting to loosen my strict attitude just like it did to the others. Funny looks were shot our way as we three started laughing so loud the glass table in front of us started vibrating. The small fruits in Mariana's cup started dancing as she put it back onto it so nothing of it would spill.

It took us some time to calm down again but when we did, Gabe was the first to speak again. "So, what do you think what it was? That voice I mean."  
That was just what had been bothering me all the time even though I didn't show it to my two friends. Since I had left the house, the subconscious voice in my head had started to get louder. I could almost make out what it was whispering but now the faint breeze of alcohol had dimmed it to a point that I hadn't been bothered by it anymore.

"I don't know...I mean, I have never heard anything that got even close to that. That thing or person or whatever it was really didn't seem like it meant harm! Sounds crazy, I know but believe me!", I explained and waved with my arms to make a point. A faint tingling joined the warmth spread in my intestines and wandered up the back of my head as I took another gulp of self-made Moonshine. Well, that stuff may not have been the healthiest drink due to the plants we used to make it being a little irradiated but it wasn't too bad. 

Mari shook her head and fidgeted with the bandanna wrapped around her head. "Are you sure that's not the alcohol talking Clem?" My eyes narrowed and I shot her a pissed off glance.  
"I think I know when I'm seriously dunk and talk shit Mari. And no, now is none of those moments."

The girl raised her hands in a protective manner and joked "Oh god, Clem is getting a temper! Quick Gabe, hide underneath the table!" Her brother laughed and even though I didn't want to, I had to smirk too before flipping off both of them.  
"Oh, fuck you! Better watch out I don't tell Javier who you are hanging out with in the evenings.", I teased Mari while giving her my best impression of a vicious smirk. Now she was the one to flip me the bird.

"Don't you dare!", she scowled at me and a pen swirled past my ear as she aimed for my face. I just continued laughing evilly. Mariana had found herself a boyfriend but hadn't told her family yet. Her uncle Javier had taken care of both of them after their father had died in the aftermath of the nukes. He had gotten exposed so much radiation that his body had slowly started to dissolve. It had literally destroyed itself from the inside. Every single cell had died, leaving him in a great deal of pain and rendered motionless to succumb to the countless wounds and gaps that opened up all over his body.

Mariana and Gabe hadn't seen any of it and I hadn't either. Kenny had decided to tell me about it a few years back. They had been lucky not to know what killed him, they hadn't had to witness it like I did. That's why they overcame their grief way sooner. Mari had made herself a good life, good payment as a farm helper and now she had a boyfriend who truly loved her. Gabe had almost the same story, he had found a job in the local law enforcement and regularly guarded the perimeter. It would have been lied to say that he was wealthy but he had built up a good basis for living. I could almost be jealous of them sometimes.

"Consider yourself lucky with him! I haven't found the right one for me so shut up. Javi should slowly know about him, I mean you have been together for a year now and you haven't told him yet.", I told her and emptied my cup. Whilst I put it onto the table, she scratched the back of her head and wore a thoughtful expression.  
"You're right, I think I'll talk with Javi tomorrow. But until then, we need more alcohoooool! Bartender! Another round for me and my friends!" She yelled her last words towards the bar on the other side of the room where a grim-faced man waited to serve the beverages.

"Coming up lady!", he boomed through the pub and poured in another three cups of moonshine. I slowly started to feel how the strange formula surged through my body and a mist put itself over the world, dimming down my senses. 

But one sense did not get suppressed by the horrendous amount of consumed alcohol. The tingling in the back of my head started to get more noticeable, urging to be noticed by me. The voice accompanying this phenomenon was getting louder, now being a steady growing whisper.

"Get...out."

I flinched. The same voice I heard in the tunnels had called out again. Urgency and fear inside of it almost made me jump when it repeated these words, this time so loud it seemed to burst out of my head.

"Get out!"

Gabe turned to face me and gave me a funny look. "What?"  
I realized with cold horror that I had repeated what I had heard. The whole bar was now staring at me, eerie silence filled the room. Even the jazz musicians in the corner had stopped playing and I could see one spinning his finger around his temple while shooting one of his colleges a glance. I sure must have sounded and looked crazy as I stormed out of the pub, smashing cartridges on the counter as payment and hastily putting on my hat.

Mariana and Gabe had to hurry to reach me as I stormed off, completely list in thoughts. The girl grabbed my arm and stopped me from escaping them completely.  
"What the hell Clem?", she asked and the soft inside of her hand hit my cheek. Burning pain unfolded in the spot she had slapped me but the feeling made me snap out of whatever was driving me insane. I shook my head and blinked, finally back in this world.  
"What...?", I stuttered in confusion. I hadn't even really noticed that I had walked so far away from the pub. We were now standing on the far end of the station. I didn't remember jumping down to the rails and taking the steps to the other side.

"What the hell were you doing in there? You looked like you were insane!", Mari screeched at me, angered by my strange doing. The tingling feeling inside my skull made it feel like it was going to explode and suddenly, a stinging pain inside my temple made me stumble and curl up on the ground. Everything was drowned by an intense beeping, as if a grenade had exploded next to my ear while Mariana and Gabe froze over me, concern and fear for me in their faces as they tried to help me. 

When I opened my eyes, I was alone. The space around me was white and, even though I could feel a ground beneath me, there was no floor. It looked like I was simply floating in a bright white void, depleted of everything I knew.

"Hello- Again."

I jumped up when I heard her. A dark shadow on the opposite side of the white void started to grow denser, coils of darkness weaved together until a vaguely humanoid person stood at the other side. It was the first time I saw her in light.

Like I had noticed earlier this day, her eyes were inverted. A white pupil focused to the changing brightness in the empty space. Her arms were longer than I had thought they were. The length was comparable to the one of an animal I had only seen in colored books. The black arms were so long that she didn't have to bow down to touch her knees.  
There was little visible muscle mass on her biceps but I had seen how easily she had crushed the Desmo's head, same thing applied to her legs. But even though I had seen her do just that, I wasn't afraid. I didn't shiver like I had when she had first appeared. Instead I walked up to her until I stood there, just a few feet parting us.

"Who are you?", I began, trying to lessen my curiosity. The shape in front of me tilted its head, the two eyes met mine and a comfortable warmth spread in my body. Not the same kind that alcohol left, but more the feeling of safety.

"I- Am- You.", she answered. Her voice sounded like it was a tape in which certain sentences had been taken and words cut out to form a new sense. Every word had a different pronunciation but all of them were said calmly. I saw my own little reflection in her eyes as she towered over me.

"What? What do you mean?"  
I felt like I was interrogating her the same way someone would do it with a criminal. But she didn't seem to mind. She tilted her head and what seemed to be her dark lips curled upwards in a gesture that resembled a smile. Even though her jaw looked strangely animal-like, I recognized it.

"Human."

It felt like my heart had plunged into a deep abyss, my stomach seemed to head the other way when she said that. My knees felt wobbly out of nowhere and I stumbled. Nothing could have prepared me for that single word out of this creature's mouth. Not the hard training with Kenny, not alcohol, nothing.

"You are...human? Like I am?", I asked. I earned a nod in response and the smile on her face remained.  
"How?! I mean, we look nothing alike!"

Pictures of a large white plated room flashed before my inner eye. I saw how surgical instruments laid on a clean aluminium plate, a single chair with arm-straps placed next to it. Then, a short scene of tubes being lowered on my mouth emerged and I could _feel _how the plastic entered my throat, making me gag and almost get rid of my meal.

The pictures vanished and left me standing in the room again, the shape now standing way farther away.  
"I don't understand! What do you want?!", I called out as she turned around and it almost looked like she wanted to leave. My call made her stop and face me again, she blinked and two dark lids closed themselves sideways.

"I- Protect- Family." 

The scene changed. I was standing in the station again, next to me a frozen pair of friends. It looked like they were caught in their own timeline, they moved as if covered in honey whilst I moved normally. When my gaze turned towards the visitor again, I frowned.

It was gone, reduced to piles of ash and bent metal which littered the anyways dirty ground. The flickering flames ate their way to the next house, still hungry after being unleashed. I saw how a bottle of alcohol fell to the ground when one of the shelves collapsed and exploded in a rain of sparks. And in midst all this destruction, a tall figure loomed above the ground. The dark curls around her feet started disappearing just like her body did. Slowly but surely, all that remained was a dark spot shaped like the giant she was. It moved one last time and I knew she was looking at me.

"Need- To- Understand. Prevent- Death."

And with these prophetic words she disappeared, reduced to nothingness, leaving me and my friends standing in front of the burning ruin of what had once been a bar.


	7. Chapter Six

_**We've got to get that out quickly. If we don't, the whole station is gonna go up in flames like a piece of dry wood!**_

A blast of heat hit my face as one of the generators that had been used to power the bar lights went up in flames, the fuel igniting in a gigantic ball of fire. Chunks of sharp metal rained down on of and I could hear Mariana screech as a bigger part of the once welded metal hit the ground next to her. But I just stood there, baffled and rendered motionless by the shock. I didn't even flinch when something whizzed past me.

Was this my fault? Had the mysterious creature done this? What were the others gonna say? Questions flooded my head and made thinking straight impossible. I felt numbness spread all over my body while my brain resisted the urge to do anything.

"What are you doing Clem? Don't just stand around! Wake up god damn it!", Gabe yelled my way and ran to my side, forcefully turning me to face him. I could see the fear shrouding his eyes and it ripped me out of my catatonic state. The sorrow and distress of my friends was enough to get my blood pumping again, I just couldn't let them down, now that their and my home was in danger.

"Wh- What?", I managed to ask before he pulled me towards a small shelf placed next to a wall nearby. The red casing was still intact even though the glass had been broken already. But the item we needed was inside, safely secured by removable straps keeping it safe in case the earth would quake or something similar. Gabe ran up to it and ripped open the small door. Just seconds later he and I were armed with two similar looking fire extinguishers from the pre-war era. The cold steel of the bottles added another uncomfortable stinging to the skin of my arms while the weight stretched it to an almost painful grade. My friend pulled out another one of the tools out of the next casing and faced me.

"We've got to get that out quickly. If we don't, the whole station is gonna go up in flames like a piece of dry wood!", he said and ran towards the raging inferno. I could see his outlines shimmer as the heat obscured my vision, creating life like versions of hell. But a black wall of smoke arose and shrouded him to the point I couldn't see him at all.

My heartbeat raced upwards and it felt like a wild animal was caged up inside me and waited for its moment to break out, to jump out of my chest and enjoy the freedom. All I could do was follow the call and run after Gabe to help him. The bent metal stairs beneath me squealed out like rats when I hurried down to catch him, my heart still throwing tantrums. 

When I approached the raging fire, the heat hit my face with full force. I smelled the burning plastic and wood, the thick air I inhaled made me gag in disgust. I had never smelled anything as sickening as this, even though I would soon change my mind about this. But for now, it had been beyond anything I had seen in the metro. Fire was a common thing but we had always tried not to get it out of control. Now, after whatever had caused this, it was a fearsome beast, tearing everything apart it found and consuming it until there was nothing left. It was burning a path to the next houses, never sated, always hungry.

The hissing sound of the extinguisher made me flinch as Gabe pushed the lever to release the pure white foam. In a matter of seconds, the burning earth in front of him started to get turn into a winter-wonderland and the deadly flames suffocated beneath it. I hurried to his side and followed his example. The gasses exiting the muzzle pressed the bottle into my hands but it was manageable to control the steady flow of foam and aim it at the still dancing fire.

More and more people came out of their homes around us, attracted by the loud noises and the stench of smoke arising from the once thriving station bar. Some of them were brave enough to grab extinguishers themselves and help us, others were in too much shock to help. Mariana wasn't beneath any of those, she ran around town and alerted the perimeter guards to go and get help from one of the nearby stations. If they could make it there in time, we would only have to restrain the fire instead of putting ourselves at risk while trying to deaden all of the inferno with too little equipment. 

Gabe, I and the others did a pretty good job in containing it. Well, that was until the second generator got caught in the flames. I was just about to smother another wave of flames that was endangering the nearby houses when it happened. Out of nowhere, shrapnel rained at us. Some of the sharp metal parts dug themselves into the unprotected skin of our helpers and I could hear them scream and cry out in pain. The heat around me intensified so much that I feared my lungs would collapse. It sucked the air right out of them, used it to fuel its anger and destruction.

In front of my eyes the world lost all its colors, drained away by the beast surrounding me. My knees felt like they were made out of jelly and it was hard to keep my balance. A violent cough shook my body as I leaned over and took a deep breath of the toxic gas. The feeling in my chest was almost unbearable, the searing pain intensified by the minute. And to top all of this, the house on the other side of the bar started smoking. A small flame started burning on the wooden roof as one spark got caught by the dry wood.

Horror filled me when I saw how quickly the roof was getting consumed by the fire, in one second it seemed to be nothing more than a small light, in the next it was already a new raging inferno.

"Fuck!", I heard Gabe curse as his extinguisher started to splutter and the steady stream of foam dissipated. The places he had covered with it started to disappear again when the fire continued raging and consumed anything we thought had been saved from the golden era. The same thing seemed to happen to the others too, enraged yells echoed off the concrete walls of the tunnels. My own canister seemed to be almost empty as well, it started to grow lighter and also warmer than it had been.

I backed up as the flames wallowed up again and drove us away from the ruins of the bar. Our last hope was now lying on the shoulders of the nearby stations, we wouldn't get this fire under control without their help.  
"Are you all right?", Gabe asked me when I emerged out of the dark smoke surrounding the bar, coughing and spitting out the disgusting remnants of dusted wood, plastics and rubber.  
"I'm okay."

Another violent cough rattled my body and my throat burned like I had just drunken liquid steel. The look on his face changed from somewhat hopeful to extremely worried. I felt his arm slip around my back to help me stand as he saw that I was about to collapse.  
"Let's get you to a doctor.", he supposed and helped me down the nearby steps to the rails. We didn't get far. Mariana ran towards us and pointed towards the burning building with utter horror in her face.

"There's still people in there, trapped by the flames! We need to help them!", she explained with fear and despair in her eyes. It was then when she realized that something was wrong with me and she just opened her mouth to say something when I pushed Gabe away and straightened my posture. "I'm all right now. Those people need us, let's get moving.", I snarled to cover up the fact that I didn't get enough air. Just as Kenny had always told me, always think about the others before you think about yourself. He and I had always judged arrogance and selfishness really harshly, we thought of it as the worst traits the human being possessed.

"Clem are you really su-", Gabe attempted to say but I was already running off, ignoring his question. I heard the gravel flow up behind me when he started following me, murmuring something beneath his breath that suspiciously sounded like "She just can't get enough action, can she?" 

The house was a living hell when we arrived. Wooden panels from the roof collapsed into the interior and every time that happened, a choir of hysteric yells erupted from the inside. A small crowd had gathered in front of the scene, most of them tried to help with extinguishers but there were just too little of them. The flames just kept blazing, trying to quench their insatiable hunger.

Gabe rushed to my side and passed me a wet towel. The cloth weighed much in my hands and my palm started getting slippy from it. I threw him a confused glance as to why the hell he wanted me to have it. He raised a brow until he realized what I meant.  
"Press this against your mouth while in there, this'll filter the smoke a little better.", he explained and wrapped it around his neck. His voice sounded muffled as he said "Follow me."

And I did as he said. The air grew denser when the cloth laid on my mouth and I could taste the water sucked up into the fiber. A strange copper taste stuck to my tongue when I walked behind Gabe, the crowd parted to make way for us. The heat wallowing up against our faces grew steadily until we were both standing in front of the open doorway. It was a living nightmare, a door straight into the pits off hell. Flames liked at the frame and made it look like they were inviting us inside.

When Gabriel turned around to give me a worried glance I just mumbled "Let's get this over with." He nodded in response and I saw a strange flicker in his eyes, something that went over the normal meter of worry. An electrical feeling went through my body as he leaned over and planted a kiss on the uncovered part of my cheek.

"Stay safe in there.", he told me and entered the burning house, leaving me standing there, alone, confused and shocked. The heat from inside seemed to be held at bay by my glowing red face when I touched the still warm spot his lips had touched my skin. I had never known that Gabe had any feelings for me, he had always tried to keep it a secret. And this sudden change in his mind and behavior was a new mystery to unravel for me. It was like he had known what the future held in plan for him. I myself, I had never thought about it. I had never thought about him and me having feelings for each other, I rather saw him like a big brother. And not in the Alabama way.

"Gabe wait!", I called out and stepped forward. Instantly, the heat greeted my approach and coated me into a cloak of liquid fire. I felt like the searing flames touched my skin and left small red places where, if I'd leave it some time, blisters would pop up and ruin its smoothness. The burning logs underneath me crunched as I stepped over them, sparks flew into the air every time something collapsed and crashed into the concrete ground. Once colored carpets had been reduced to nothing more than piles of shifting dust. The images created by the shifting looked ominous, like hell itself wanted to tell me something. I ripped my gaze away from them and continued to work my way around the burning wreckages littering the floor, always trying to follow the screams of despair that sounded over the sound of crackling flames.

When I found her, it was almost too late already. The woman was standing in front of a collapsed part of the roof and screaming in cold horror. I didn't dare to ask why until my question was answered when I saw what she was pointing at in her agony. The blackened and sizzling body of a man laid there, buried beneath a shit ton of burning wood that had crashed onto him. He didn't have any chance. It looked like he had been killed in his sleep, a bent metal frame peered out from underneath his corpse.

I approached the still screaming woman and laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even mind and just continued throwing her tantrum. Well, I can understand her reaction of course, this man had been her husband after all. But it didn't really help the situation back then.  
"Lady, I'm sorry for your loss and all but we've got to get you out of here!", I bellowed and tried to rip her away from the gruesome scene. All I earned in response was a kick to the shin and a couple of hits to the face. Luckily, I managed to avoid the last. But the first kick connected and pain flared up in my foot.

"Bitch.", I murmured and continued to pull her away. Her struggle was really hard at first but after a few minutes, she started to grow weak. Her punches didn't hurt as much as before anymore and the initial strength she had put into getting back into the room with her husband started to fade. It was way easier to pull her outside after that. Once we reached the crowd waiting there, a doctor emerged out of it, a white case with medicine in his arms. 

"Make way!", he screeched to make himself noticeable as he got closer to the front. I on my part ripped off the wet towel from in front of my face and let the seizures of coughing run over my whole body. The world got drained from color once again and this time my legs weren't able to hold my weight. I fell to the ground and laid on my back like a turtle, unable to move or stand up again. I closed my eyes and let the feeling of peace overcome me. All I wished for was to just sleep for a long time and maybe wake up after a couple of months. Warmth seemed to coat me and exhaustion took over- That was until someone slapped me.

When I opened my eyes again the woman, I had saved towered above me. Her face was full of fear. "Don't die on me, my child is still in there!", she howled and pointed at the burning house again. My mind was fully awake again, energy streamed through my body when I realized what she meant. I jumped to my feet and looked around. Gabe was nowhere to be seen.

Cold horror flooded every inch of my being when I looked back into the inferno. I yelled his name into the flames and when nothing came back, I wanted to charge in there. My last hope had almost been depleted and I had picked up the cloth again when I heard his voice again.

"Clem?!"  
"Gabe! I'm here, just follow my voice!", I answered and ran towards the entrance again. The flickering fire shrouded my view but I could make out his shape moving along the interior, something clutched in his arms. I waved towards him and I got his attention when he frowned and waved back. His voice was faint over the rustling of the bonfire but I could still make out the words.  
"I found this little kid in its crib!"

Relief washed over me. The kid was well and alive just like he was. "Get out of there with it, I got the mum out already!"  
I thought I could see him grin in the flickering light, a small smirk lightening up his grim looking face. He started to make his way over to the door, keeping a great distance to everything burning along the way while the small bundle was still clutched in his arms. A small cry left the child's mouth, confirming that it was still alive.

Everything seemed all right, it seemed like we were going to get out here safe and sound... But fate had different plans. When Gabe was just a few feet away from the doorway, a big part of the roof collapsed inwards, blocking most of his path in a rain of sparks. He ducked away but he couldn't prevent the exit from getting blocked. A curse left his lips as he looked at the burning wood.  
"Fuck, I won't get through there with the kid! I'll have to throw it!" 

Even though I wanted to say no, even though I knew that it was risky, I didn't say anything. All I did was just stand there, unable to do anything off my own accord. I was a mindless puppet which was already suspecting what was about to happen.

Time slowed down when Gabe took off his own wet towel and put it over the kid's face to protect it against the smoke and heat. Then he tossed it. The small bundle sailed through the air with a certain kind of grace, as if someone had mounted wings onto the fragile little back. It hit the soft flash of my arms with a low thump and the child screeched as if to confirm that it was still okay. The child's mother ran up to me, tears flowing own her face. It was then when I realized how young she actually was. A little older than I was, maybe twenty or a year older. She thanked me and took the ever-screaming bundle out of my hands, the warmth of the kid disappeared out of them.

The support beams broke just when I turned back my attention to Gabe. The last thing I remember about him was the bright smile on his face, his red beanie darkened with the dark smudges of smoke. A peaceful look had been in his eyes when he had seen that I and the child were safe. But death always hits you then when you don't expect it. A burning part of the roof collapsed right on top of him, snuffed his life out like a candle. I hope he didn't suffer, that he didn't have to feel much pain.

All I remember from then on was me falling unconscious after a long, pained scream...


	8. Chapter Seven

_**You will always carry round the guilt of having done something terrible.**_

The darkness around me was impenetrable. Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel that something was going on. My mind awoke in very short bursts, making me feel like I was experiencing unknown or forgotten memories. The first time I nearly woke up, something was put over my mouth. A mask made out of plastic was pumping sweet pure oxygen into my chest. Regular beeping sounded from somewhere to my right and when I tried to open my eyes, it was hard, so hard that I only managed to open up a small slit. A white sterile room greeted me. Fortunately, it wasn't the same that dark woman had shown me. This was a hospital room, a heart monitor sat next to me on a small shelf. When I shifted around a little, I caught the glimpse of a sleeping Kenny sitting on a chair next to my bed. Then I blacked out again.

I awoke once again to the same room, nothing had changed. Or so I thought. Kenny had left and someone, maybe he or Mariana, had put a box of chocolate on the shelf. A small smirk stole its way up to my face when I saw it. But when I tried to move and grab it, the currents of sleep ripped me away again.

The last time I woke up was completely different. There was no hospital room, no heart monitor and no mask on my face. The floor beneath me was hard and uncomfortable, the cold of metal seeped through my clothes. My view was blocked by the iron interior of a fortified rail cart, but I still knew that something horrible was going on out there. I heard a blood-curling scream which got harshly interrupted after the cruel sound of flesh being torn and bones getting broken. A salve of gunfire unloaded right next to me, where, when I looked up, my mentor stood with a machine gun, firing at something I couldn't see. Vulture was there too, sitting in a small seat operating the engine. Kenny seemed to have hit something because a jarring cry echoed off the concrete walls gliding past us. And whatever had yelled in agony, it had definitely not been human. 

"Clem? Hey sweetie, are you awake?"  
My mind awoke once again from the void. Instantly, the dry feeling of my tongue made me gag and cough. I curled up and spat out multiple times, getting rid of some of the horrible taste. A strong hand patted my back as I did. The edges of my eyes were crusted with stale tears and I had to force myself to open them entirely. The scene that got revealed to me was cozy, a small campfire set up next to the rusty rails in a surveillance tunnel. Trails of smoke curled up in the dim light and disappeared towards the concrete above our heads.

"Kenny, I think she's waking up.", I heard a well-known voice call out next to me. When the blurriness before my my eyes disappeared, I could make out vulture's dark outline getting highlighted by the sizzling flames behind his back. The plastic visor of his helmet was opened, I saw it glistening above his head. But I didn't get the chance to see his face as the fire threw a big shadow onto it until the man realized that he wasn't covered up.

I saw him flinch as the fact hit him like an out-of-control train and his hands instantly grabbed the synthetic material and pulled it down. Once again, his identity was shrouded by the used dark mask. It was always a mystery to me, why he didn't want to show me his face, the person who was hiding beneath a thick coat of mystery, fear and protective gear. Was it sliced up so bad that he was ashamed of his appearance? Or was he simply afraid to be recognized as someone else, as someone who had done something horrible?

My thoughts were interrupted when the entrance of the surveillance tunnel was shrouded by the shadow of someone approaching. A sudden urge to pull out my gun overcame me and my hand shot to my holster where it grabbed stale tunnel air. The flames revealed the visitor to be Kenny and I instantly felt dumb for my stupid reaction. Before I could think too much about it, my adoptive father tackled and enveloped me in a big, warm hug.

His body shook a little and when he backed away after several seconds, I saw a lonely tear washing away the smudge on his face.  
"I thought I had lost you. Don't ya think almost dying twice in the span of two days is a little much?", he said and wiped the drop away, leaving a clean trail on his otherwise coal covered face. My heart stung as I saw the sad smirk on his face as he tried to hide how much he had feared for me. I couldn't help myself but hug him again and say "I'm fine Kenny, I'm okay." He shuddered in my arms and I heard a small sob leave his lips. We remained like that for at least a minute until he backed up once again; his expression normalized again.

Vulture leaned over to the campfire and pulled a small pot out of it. Steam curled up from the small opening on the front and the smell of mushroom tea filled my nose. Since the bombs fell it had been impossible to find and grow tea herbs in the narrow tunnels, far away from the sun's life spending warmth. The only alternative nowadays were the umbrella shaped mushrooms that started to grow on the irradiated soil. It was what I had grown up with and I had loved the sweet musky taste of the plant from the start on.

Our companion poured the steaming liquid into three similar looking tin cans with crude self-made handles and, after a short blow over the top of each, he gave me one of them. I nodded and smiled in thanks and even though I couldn't see his whole face, I could tell he was smiling too. I drank a small sip and instantly, the indelible taste filled my whole mouth. My eyes closed in awe as a small sigh left my chest. The dry feeling on my tongue faded. When I opened them again, I could see vulture studying my face as if he tried to memorize every single detail. He turned away when he noticed that I had seen it, awkward silence filled the air and made it even staler than it already was.

Kenny coughed and both of our eyes whipped his direction. He smirked. "What are you two doing there? Looks like two rabid dogs in a staring contest."  
A dry chuckle sounded next to me as the hard, unforgiving and rational soldier reacted to the joke. Even though I was surprised about that, I followed his example. Soon, the tunnel was filled with laughter and happiness. It seemed like we were sitting on a family dinner table amusing ourselves with a little bad humor. After the happenings of the last days, it was a welcomed change. 

But reality isn't something that can be held at bay. You can't just forget all the bad things that happened to you. You can't run away from your past; it will always get you back in the end.

That's why, after our laughter seized, I had to ask the one question I still hadn't been able to figure out. I turned my face towards Kenny.  
"Why are we here?" Silence followed my words, quiet but deadly. It wasn't Kenny who answered me at last. Vulture found the force to talk.  
"It's all gone.", he told me. I looked at him in horror. A question slipped me even though it had been answered with the undertone he had spoken with.  
"What do you mean with that?"  
"The station, it's gone. After you fell unconscious, Kenny found you and brought you to a doc. He fixed you up but..." He stopped and threw a look at Kenny who gave him a small nod.

"We got overrun. Fucking Desmo's smelled the smoke and blood, swarmed us in the hundreds. After the second perimeter fell, we ditched. Vulture took an abandoned cart from one of the traders and I got you out of the hospital.", my mentor explained after a short pause. His face was filled with pain and grief when he stopped and faced me. I could see how he fought with himself, how old painful memories cooked up inside of him and tried to burst out once again.

"It was just like in those days. When we both lost everything." My chest felt like one of the tunnels had collapsed on it, burying me underneath tons of rubble and crushing my lungs. Images flashed before my inner eye, the minutes before the attack, how my life had been okay to that moment. I thought back to the swarms of shadows invading our old home, ripping apart everything in their path. But before I could think about what had happened to my parents, I snapped out of it. One of Kenny's lessons had been: "Live in the here and now, that's what matters" And even though we knew we couldn't run away from the past, we had to try.

The ground beneath me crunched as I moved over to his side, putting my head against his shoulder in comfort.  
"I'm sorry Kenny. But you know we have to live in the present, not dig up the past.", I told him while taking another sip from my canteen. Kenny smiled with sadness marking his face as he recognized his own rule.  
"I taught you good, eh? You're right, this isn't the time for an old senile man to whine about how it was better before the bombs." I thought he deserved a little punishment for calling himself old so I punched him in the arm. The response was a small chuckle echoing off the concrete. I looked up to see the face of someone who really cared about me, who would give his life for mine. I knew how much he had sacrificed to get me here, how many lives he had left behind to make the world safer for me to live in it. And it reminded me of someone, someone who had once been my best friend.

Once again, I broke the silence. My eyes met Kenny's and now it was his turn to recognize what I would ask next.  
"Gabe? Mari?"  
The urge to curl up and yell at the world how unfair everything started when he shook his head, slow and sadly. His arms laid around me, blanketing me from the horrors of reality. I wanted to cry, to scream, throw a tantrum. Gabe had been my best friend; he may have been even a little more if I had given him time. And Mariana had been the only girl I had ever opened up to, the only outsider I had trusted to be part of my family. We could have been happy all together. But this time was over, dusted by the raging flames. It felt like the already grey world got drained from its color even more.

Tears filled my eyes as I tried to comprehend the loss. And for the first time in years...I let them flow. I had always tried to be strong, to be an independent person who could care for herself. Not under any circumstances I had allowed myself to appear weak, to shed even the slightest tear. Once I even stitched myself up in harsh conditions without crying. But now it was just too much. My body trembled as the sobs started and my mind went blank. Everything I could do was to let my feelings boil up after they had been pushed into a bottle deep in my guts for several years. And they exploded like a fractured gas tank.

After a few minutes, even vulture decided that I needed his comfort. I felt how he shuffled over to my curled-up shape and his strong hand started to stroke my back. Warmth spread through my whole body until it reached the last dark patch in my soul, lightening it up in a never seen light. A million years could have passed when I finally opened my eyes again, now dry but puffed with grief. Even though my mentor and protector had both showed me love, I felt a simple but contrasted feeling.

Sadness turned into Pain. Pain turned into anger. Anger turned into cold blooded thirst for revenge. 

"It was her.", I whispered coldly. Kenny and vulture exchanged confused looks until I said "The shadow person, she was there." I saw the stalker's eyes widen even underneath the visor. The pure white shone out of the darkened plastic like a bone sticking out of black scorched earth.

"Are you saying that this thing did all of this?", he asked and I could hear the urgency in his voice. Without displaying any emotion, I nodded harshly. The warmth in my limbs started to fade, leaving them feel as if a whole winter utopia was residing inside them. My brain seemed to freeze and stick to a single idea, a single emotion I had never experienced in this immense manner. Revenge.

"That's why I went out of the bar. It manipulated me, showed me weird distressing images in my head, drove me insane. And when I woke up from that nightmare, it was standing in the flames. I just know that this monster killed them.", I told them and my hand curled into a fist until my knuckles felt like they would fall apart any second now. "All I want is for it to die, to suffer how it made me suffer. I want it to feel pain." Kenny's eyes widened as I said that, shock was written all over his face.  
"Clementine! What did we say about that kinda talk? You can't say that, calm d-"

"Yes, I fucking can Kenny! This creature destroyed our home and killed our friends! What do you want me to do, huh?! Should I calm down and think rational? When did that solve any god damn problem ever? Did Gabe have enough time to think before he got cooked alive? Did Mariana get enough time to see everything rational before she got ripped apart? Fuck your stupid morals!"  
The rage overcame me like a tidal wave, stripping me of any ability to hold back. I yelled at Kenny, screamed at him as the currents ripped me away. Silence arose until the echo died away, leaving me steaming with rage, standing in front of the person who had taught me almost everything to this point.

I realized my mistake when I saw the pain in his eyes. Not disappointment, but full-fledged pain. He didn't respond to my questions, instead, he stood up, picked up his flask and walked towards tunnel entrance. "Kenny I-", I tried to say but he had already rounded the corner. My chest ached from feeling guilty as I sat down again to take a sip from the now lukewarm tea. Vulture followed my example and it remained quiet for a short while. The minutes passed like hours and I started to realize more and more how much my words would have hurt Kenny.

He was like my father after all, he had seen me grow up and told me how the world was running. Every single thing I knew about life had come from his mouth. And I had just said that he had done everything wrong, proving him right by yelling like a small dumb child throwing a tantrum.

"You were pretty hard to him."  
I faced vulture even though he ignored it and took another sip of tea. His dark lips were exposed when he pulled down the balaclava a little to leave way for the warm beverage.  
"I- I know... The anger, it just-", I stuttered before he raised a single finger to shush me. And strangely, I obeyed. His authority laid in his calmness, the quiet but analyzing way he would talk about certain things and the short but clear gestures he used.

"Anger and lust for revenge are hard to withstand. I know how hard it is not to look for the person or even creature who did you wrong and slaughter it like a pig old enough to be butchered. But in the moment you kill that beast, you will become what you swore to destroy. If you kill out of lust and hate you're nothing more but a savage. And believe me, you will always carry round the guilt of having done something terrible."

After finishing, he turned his face towards me. The low flames licked on his shape, flickered around his helmet and made the scene even more scary than it already was. I didn't know what he had done in the past, but now I knew it had been something terrible. Maybe this was the reason why he remained hidden, lived like a ghost. I tried to look him straight in the eyes even though the visor didn't let me do it.

"Vulture, what have you done? What are you hiding from all of us?", I asked with a tight stare towards him. He squirmed underneath the glare and tried to flee from it by looking into the dancing fire again.  
"It's a long, bloody story. I can't tell you about it... There's things in the metro you wouldn't understand."

I wasn't angry but rather persistent in getting any kind of information out of him, now that he had opened up at least a little.  
"You can't know that if you don't tell me. And we have plenty of time, you know?" It was like someone had built a solid metal wall around him against his will, as if he wanted to tell me everything but couldn't. A wolf on a leash, desperate to seek the freedom it needed.  
"Clementine...no. Please, if they'd find out I told you everything, they'd come here and kill you. It's for your sake that you get left in the dark about me.", he said, sadness and despair anchored in his voice. When I opened my mouth again to pepper him with another load of questions, he turned to face me again. I couldn't see his eyes but I knew that the glare underneath meant that my chance to get information out of him was over.

"Clem. I know I can't tell you anything and I am sorry. It is for your best. But there is one thing I will have you to do for me", he explained and pulled out something out of a hidden pocket on his chest. The white paper was soft and clean when he put it in my hand. The two edges were molten together with white wax which had been given an insignia. A big vulture spread its wings while it was caught in the hardened liquid.

I raised my head to see vulture standing up and walking in front of me. The tensed atmosphere seemed to tighten my chest just as much as the fire had done yesterday. He knelt down and rested his gloved hand on my shoulder.

"I will go out there and look for that thing that attacked you. I can't let anything roam around that might hurt someone, especially you. If I don't come back in three days, open the covert and read the message. Not sooner, not later. And don't try to follow me. Do you understand?"

All I could manage was a small, almost invisible nod. The paper weighed several tons in my hands, as if the fate of the whole world was put inside of it. Vulture seemed to have understood my tiny gesture and arose again. I could see his mouth curl upwards in a small but sad grin, the balaclava shrouded the rest of his features.  
"Thank you. Go to Kenny and apologize, what you said was really harsh. After that, travel south until you two reach 164th street station. Ask the guards for Marvin Mendez, he's a good friend and I'm sure he will give you some place to stay in.", he told me and turned around. He grabbed his rifle, his bag and a gas mask lying on the floor before facing the other direction of the surveillance tunnel.

"Wait!", I exclaimed before he could melt in with the darkness. The stalker stopped and turned around partially so I could see half of his covered-up face. "Where are you gonna go?" A short pause followed my words until he broke it and said, "Wherever I need to go to protect you Clem." And with those words he turned around and disappeared in the black tunnel as if he had always been a part of it.


	9. Chapter Eight

_**To be sure you are no harm to us, please surrender your weapons and let yourself get searched.**_

Vulture didn't come back.

After I went to Kenny and apologized, we traveled to 164th street station. While we were travelling, my mentor didn't talk to me. The air in the tunnels was stale and the awkward silence between us didn't make that fact any better. It seemed like he wanted me to know how much I had misbehaved and kept silent to punish me for my wrongdoing. And he was right about doing it. The things I had said and some things even worse in my mind had been wrong towards him. He was the reason why I wasn't a rotting corpse in some side tunnel or a prostitute working in some rat-infested brothel at the end of the line. Kenny had done too much for me to be called useless.

All the time I couldn't stop thinking about everything. My mind skulked on the thoughts I had had against Kenny and on what had been happening in the last days. It hadn't been the first time I had been injured; it hadn't been the first death in my family. But the wounds that had been cut deep into the flesh of my soul hadn't healed enough yet. I couldn't stop holding a grudge against myself. I was the one who caused all of this destruction, it was my fault that my friends had perished under the worst circumstances.

The more I thought about it, the more the raging fire of hatred in my guts intensified. I wanted to find that dark creature and let it pay. It had tricked me into thinking it was trying to help me or at least that it didn't want any harm to me or anyone else. Yesterday had proven me wrong. Trusting an irradiated beast had been a stupid idea from the start on. One bullet would have been enough back on the hunt, it had been so vulnerable and I could have prevented all this death from happening. 

The travel was nothing far from being boring as hell. No noises indicated an incoming attack, no interesting talks with my father, not even a tiny rat scurrying over the rusty rails. Normally it was extremely dangerous to get from one station to another, but it seemed like we had some luck. We were left in peace for the whole day and reached 164th pretty quickly. It felt like my feet were about to fall off when we spotted the first perimeter guard in the distance. The soft light in front of us looked inviting, signalizing the close proximity to humanity, warmth and safety.

"Get your passport ready.", Kenny murmured next to me, giving me the first words since hours. I could hear he was still pissed but not as much as in the start. And even though I had done him wrong, he still cared about me.

"Yeah, I've got it."  
I knelt down and took off my small battered up backpack. The soft cloth scraped over my shoulders as the weight was taken off them. With a loud thump, my luggage fell to the ground and my hands roamed one of the small front pockets. I stopped when I felt the warm edges of paper touch the back of my hand. The small booklet looked just as run-down as my backpack looked but it was just as handy. Getting into a station without one of these could become quite challenging how I had to experience for myself once already.

"Let's go.", I said Kenny's way and picked up the bag, sliding it back onto my shoulders. The darkness was still dense but I could make out his small nod before we started to walk towards the barricades. Our footsteps sounded a thousand times louder as we got closer. My heart was beating so loud that I was sure the guards on the other end of the tunnel could hear it. A sudden itch in my fingers made me flinch, if I wouldn't have reacted to the urge, I would have grabbed my pistol. Good thing I didn't because that was the moment the guards chose to spot us. 

"Hey you! Freeze! Put your hands where we can see them, nice and slow!", one of the guys yelled with a harsh, military sounding voice that made me jumpy. I did as he said and raised my hands as a big floodlight was pointed straight at my face. A sudden white layer covered everything and I had to close my eyes to avoid getting blind. And even there the darkness was pierced by the stinging force from the outside.

I couldn't see anything until someone coming towards us bellowed, "Get those lights off, god damn it! It's not like we are fucking blind!" The burning behind my eyelids got more bearable as the light was turned away from my face and I could finally get a glance at the outside again. A group of three soldiers was now standing right in front of us, two of them were pointing their automatic rifles at us. The black barrels scowled at us, ready to mow us down if we attempted to do anything even slightly fishy.

The third man stepped forward, holding nothing but a flashlight. He looked arrogant; his nose pointed towards the looming ceiling with a derogatory look in his eyes. His blond hair and a well-maintained stature made him look like someone who was in charge, who could command a whole army with just a couple of nosy words. His clothes said just the same, old army fatigues with a couple of rusty medals pinned to them. The golden shimmer of them intensifies when he lifted his flashlight to point it on the concrete next to our feet. He may have been a normal macho in the army, looking for easy prey but there was something in his eyes when he saw me, a look of cold intelligence and hunger...

"Well well well, what do we have here? he said, his voice fitting his image completely. The arrogance in it was easy to spot and he had been the same person who had snarled on his man to turn off the floodlights.

"Travelers seeking shelter in 164th." I was the one to answer instead of Kenny, my voice steady and a grim look on my face. Trying to look as confident as possible as I stood there, without protection and outnumbered. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat as the man came closer and inspected me from head to toe. The look in his eyes made me uncomfortable and I scowled at him when I saw the direction he was looking.

"Hey asshole, my face is up here.", my voice hissed as it escaped my angered mind. Kenny threw me a glance as he understood what the man had done, I could see the hatred in his eyes burning like a torchlight, bright but yet controlled. The guard smirked.  
"Oh my, a lady with temperament! Those are always the best. But let's not impolite here, my name's Franklin, Franklin Shaw, second in charge of the city guard. And who are you if I may ask?"

I sent a short prayer to god so I could slap his dumb face without getting riddled with bullets someday. And I wished that day may come soon.

"My name's Clementine, this is my dad, Kenny." I raised my fist and added, "And that's lefty, if you wanna meet him then keep staring." The Franklin guy raised a brow and one of the guards behind him chuckled dryly until his superior kicked him in the shin, silencing him after a short squeal of pain. A big fake smile settled on Franklin's face as he said, "I am sure I won't need that meeting. Where are you two from?"

Kenny was the one to answer this time. "181st, we got overrun by a horde of Desmo's. I hope you fished up some survivors already?", he said and studied the officer's face with great care. The man opposite nodded with his sharp chin and I was sure he could have used it as a pick.  
"Yes, we picked up some of your folks down the road. But it looks like half the station is dead, eh?"

My heart skipped a beat as he mentioned that. I had expected casualties but half the station? Guilt started to gnaw at my insides again. This was my fault. I was the one who had allowed this treacherous beast to find our station and kill innocent people. It was my mistake that this fire had started, I was the reason for Gabe's and Mariana's deaths just as much as for the hundreds of innocent lives claimed by the tomb we lived in.

"Fuck...", I muttered under my breath as my eyes wandered to the lightened-up ground. It was like the air around me had become toxic, it stung and my chest felt like it was about to explode. Everything got drained from its color, hopelessness got a grip on me. It had been one mistake; a single little choice had been crucial for the survival of a part of society. And I had messed it up. Could I ever bear any responsibility without making hell go loose on my behalf?  
My grief didn't go unnoticed of course. Franklin looked at me with a faked expression of sympathy. "I am sorry to bring those bad news... But you are welcomed in our station of course, we would never turn refugees away, especially", he threw me another hungry glance, "not as fine ladies as you."

While Kenny thanked the man with an edgy nod, I flipped him the bird and scowled, this guy was seriously pissing me off. His eyes glistened with cruelty and intelligence, not the best combination he could have picked. I knew he had something in mind, something I wouldn't be agreeing with. What it was I couldn't tell but I started to get suspicious when he said, "To be sure you are no harm to us, please surrender your weapons and let yourself get searched. Just to be sure."

And again, the same look flared up in his eyes. My hand laid on my holstered pistol, unsure of whether to shoot that asshole or to give up my last measure of defense. The air around us smelled like copper, I could taste it on my tongue as if a storm was about to break loose. A small glance towards Kenny told me that he was skeptical about giving his gun away too.  
"And why exactly should we trust you? Who guarantees us that you will not harm us and give us back these weapons later?", he asked and crossed his arms to make a point. His milky eye focused on the small group of guards. Normally, most people would back away if my mentor looked at them in that way, their faces grimaced in intimidation. But the soldiers didn't care at all. They had the better weapons and were trained not to bulge under the hardest conditions.

Frank opened his arms as if he wanted to hug Kenny in a strange way. "You can fully trust me! I control this place and I will make sure you'll get your stuff back when you leave again. But while you're in the city boundaries you are not allowed to use or have any weapon on you by law. I can understand you two of course but I have no other choice." His arrogant face turned to his friends and gave them a nod, a small signal to press onward. As if they were robots, both stepped in front simultaneously, opening their hands in an inviting gesture for us to give up our last life insurance in the chaos of the after-apocalyptic world.

"Fine.", I spat out and pulled out my gun, gripping its barrel and pointing the grip towards one of the men to take it away. When the comfortable feeling of steel and weight disappeared from my palm, I felt way less secure. What would happen if suddenly something would storm out of the darkness behind us? Or those guys revealed that they were bandits who had taken over the station all the time?

The Franklin guy strolled over to me and smirked in a charming way. He's seriously still trying to get me around, what an arrogant prick, I thought. That sentence might have slipped over my lips if I wouldn't have had the self-control Kenny had taught me.  
"Move to the wall please, I need to get you searched.", he explained and pointed towards the black painted boundary only a few meters away. I glared at him and did what he said without response, eager to prove that I wasn't just some girl you could pick up with some faked compliments and a display of power.

My hands touched the wall, taking in the cold of the stone almost immediately. I could feel the officer's warm breath in my neck, making me feel as if I was standing on a snowy mountain with one foot and in a raging desert with the other one. A cold shiver ran down my spine when his hands patted off my pockets, then the base of my shoes and last beneath my arms. Never before I had had to get searched in order to get into a station, normally it was enough to just show your passport. But this was something different, and since I expected something bad to happen, I closed my eyes and tried to resist the urge to turn around and slap him.

I ripped them open again when I felt his hand touch me in spots where it was clear that I wouldn't hide any weapons. "Do you like that, hm? Does it make you feel good?", he managed to whisper. He might have murmured more into my ear but I didn't give him that chance. With a quick, almost violent move I spun around and yelled, "You little pervert!", and threw one fist his way. Time slowed down as my hand connected with his cheekbone. A satisfied grin parted my lips as I heard an almost inaudible crack as the hard ivory beneath his skin shattered like a Christmas bauble falling to the ground.

My eyes fell upon his two companions. One of them stood next to Kenny, both not having fully realized what had happened. The other one was more aware of the situation. Before my eyes I saw how he pulled up his gun and took aim. Once again, the bottomless hole in the barrel looked at me, irradiating pure death in a compact form. The man only needed to squeeze the trigger and my presence on this world wouldn't be limited to just a few seconds of bleeding out.

When the first bullet left its chamber, I was still standing there, paralyzed like a little child seeing a Desmo for the first time. There was nothing I could do as death raced towards me on light feet, trying to claim the life I had been given for a reason. My mind was a mix of many emotions at once, all mending together in just milliseconds. Fear of death clashed with the thought of eternal peace, the instinct of self preservation fought with the idea of seeing my parents again. I decided to relinquish my hold over my own live and let fate decide what was supposed to happen to me.

Closing my eyes, I readied for the cold bite of steel clawing into my flesh and riddling my body with holes. Only centimeters parted my body from the projectiles splitting the air when something happened, something I couldn't explain back then. Instead of passing through my body, the bullets seemed to follow a different direction. My skin tingled as dusted concrete rained on it from behind my back. Small chunks of the solid stone evaporated in a matter of moments, coating the ground with their remnants.

I opened my eyes to see the armed guard standing there with a confused and surprised look on his face, his gun still smoking from the freshly burned gunpowder. My glance fell down to my body, expecting to see nothing more but an empty and broken shell. But I fortunately I was disappointed. The blue denim jacket was untouched, no stains of my own blood started to spread. A slow turn later I found myself staring on the wall. The bullets had formed a halo around my shape, perfectly symmetrical, as if someone had decided to invent a new form of art.

"What...", I muttered to myself as I looked upon the scene. The dust coming off the wall seemed to contradict every rule set up by Newton, defying gravity in its own little pocket universe. It almost seemed as something moved in the shadows formed by the dust before the earth's mass ripped it back to the ground but I couldn't be sure.

"Hey! What is going on outside here?", someone yelled from the direction of the barricade, it was the same military sounding voice I had heard earlier. An Orchestrate of footsteps approached us from the lightened up side of the corridor and soon at least twenty men had their guns lowered on us. That day wasn't really lucky for neither me nor Kenny. My mentor stood over Shaw, his fists clenched and burning pits of hellfire raging in his eyes. "Lay your finger on her one more goddamn time and I will make sure you will look so bad that not even your mother will be able to love your face anymore!"

The officer winced in pain as he touched his fractured cheekbone and looked up to the silhouette of a man, he should have made friends with while he could. Following Kenny's words, a chorus of clicks around us echoed off the walls as every soldier put off the safety of his gun. I slowly walked to my father's side and positioned myself in front of him. Some of the men hesitated as I did so, lowering their weapons just a little bit to watch the picture in front of them. Then the crowd parted and a single, tall and broad figure approached us. The person held the indelible shape of a revolver in his hand.

A small spot of light danced around the tunnel until it cleared the uncertainty of the man's appearance. Big black eyebrows and a small brown mustache, paired with a look in the weathered face's eyes that felt like it was piercing right through you made him the ultimate cliché of a general. And, to top it off, he wore an old officers cap.

"Can someone please explain to me, why you are firing live rounds in the direction of a Desmo infested and overrun station?!", he bellowed, his voice crescendoing with every word. Franklin Shaw jumped up and stumbled away from behind Kenny's back, fear still deeply rooted in his arrogant orbs. "These two self-called refugees tried to attack me! I suppose they are bandits who tried getting into the station and failed miserably-"

I interrupted him with taking a step forward and pointing at him, shaking my finger furiously. "He is lying! That man is not just a liar, a pervert and an arrogant prick, no, he's a fucking coward! He is trying to get you to shoot us so we can't ruin his reputation!", my voice rose from my chest and filling the whole tunnel. Shaw tried to play his little game and hid behind the general's back like a little kid telling on someone by his mommy. "But she attacked me! Jace and Rene saw it!" "Bullshit, I just hit you because you little perverted prick tried to abuse me!"

This argument could have gone on and one without anyone being able to find the real person to blame. Thankfully, the tall man with his presence of authority raised his hand to summon quiet. Both I and Shaw stopped fighting and pointed our eyes at him. The man's eyes were full with calm and military precision as he said, "Mister Shaw, do you know why this lady sounds way more convincing? Because she is telling the truth. I am not dumb and naive; my bullshit detector is still very good. It wouldn't be the first time you do something like this." A short pause hung in the air as shock spread over the officer's face.

"What?" The disbelief in Franklin's voice was striking just like the fear of what was to come next. The tall man nodded and I could see humor and maybe even malicious joy sparkling in his eyes. "Franklin Shaw, you are temporarily dismissed from duty. Step away soldier." Before the officer could react, his superior made a small hand gesture and all the weapons around us were lowered to the ground. I slowly lowered my hands and my heart jumped as I realized that we had been saved by the yet unnamed stranger. Shaw however didn't look very relieved. "You can't do that Mendez! They attacked and beat me down and you just let them get away with it? Wait till my father finds out!", he screamed towards the general and stormed off with a mad look in his eyes, not only fury but the pain of feeling dishonored.

"I am sorry for this very bad start with our personnel you two.", the man told us after telling his man to walk back to the fortification. "Shaw is indeed a rich little prick who likes to bother every woman on sight. He'll get what he deserved eventually."

I nodded towards him thankfully while walking, the light slowly engulfing us in the life spending warmth of human civilization. Kenny did the same and said, "Seems like you enjoy to get your back on him from time to time. Thanks for that, we really needed the help." The man smiled and his mustache only mirrored the move, what made my mentor and him look like siblings meeting after a long time. "No problem. I couldn't have let him get away with something like that." He threw a quick glance on me and asked, "And you, are you all right? I hope he wasn't... too much of a problem..." I smirked as the memory of feeling his cheekbone crack re-entered my mind. "I'm okay, he was pitiful. One strike was enough to bring him down."

An amused laugh escaped the general's lips as we passed the perimeter guard and stood in front of the big hermetic doors shielding the city inside. Kenny looked at me and I knew he was still worried about me but even he had to admit that giving Shaw a beating had been a good feeling for both of us. With a loud groan, the doors opened to flood the tunnel with even brighter light as if the sun had fled down here with us too. Our new companion sighed and said. "Welcome to 164th Station! Home to over a thousand people, led by my humble person."

Even though I had heard the brief little mention of his name in the argument between Shaw and him, I couldn't quite recall it. I was mildly embarrassed when I asked, "And who are you to be exact?" He raised a brow and smiled. "Oh, excuse my impoliteness. My name is Mendez, Marvin Mendez."

_Authors note: _

_I am sorry dear reader, sorry for being very inactive in the last few weeks. I had some problems finding time in between school, learning and being a lazy twat. But don't worry, I promise (even though I probably won't be able to keep it) that I will be more active again. And of course, sorry for the low writing quality in this chapter, it's so inconsistent because I wrote in on multiple days and I am really not proud of myself. I hope it'll get better next time when I introduce an old new character ;)_


	10. Chapter Nine

_**You know, Vulture was once nothing more but a citizen. He had a wife, kids and a normal life...**_

The invisible gears inside my head started shifting as he revealed his identity, frantically trying to find the gap it fitted into. As if a light had been turned on in my head, I remembered the reason why I was here, the friendly advice and a letter from a close stranger. The dimly lightened up scene from yesterday entered my head again and I could almost smell the sweet curls of smoke trailing through the air when Vulture handed me the soft envelope.

"Mendez?", I asked and stopped in my tracks. Some of the residents around looked at me strangely while others kept displaying their goods on the weathered tables standing around between the stone columns. The crowd kept pushing me forward and I had no choice than to obey their urge and to drift down the raging currents.

"That's my name, yes.", said the general, confirmation for my jumping heart.  
"So you know Vulture?"

This time it wasn't me who flinched and stopped in their tracks. One of the lights above us dangled and left us in a temporary shadow. His face was only partially turned towards me and Kenny but I could see that there was a conflict bothering his dark eyes like winds sweeping clean unknown plains of hate and bitterness. Mendez raised a finger to his lips and muttered, "We will discuss this somewhere more... appropriate. This isn't something you tell your friends at a dinner table."

Tendrils of stone closed around my heart and ripped away its warmth, what could be so bad that he wouldn't be able to tell us about it on a market, filled with chattering, mumbling and screaming people who wouldn't be able to overhear anything? Asking myself that question I followed the general to a small, lonely looking shack on the other side of the station. The people on our way greeted their leader with a smile and a nod, none of them seemed to be hostile in any way. There were no poisoned glands being shot from men's eyes passing by, not even a mutter that sounded hateful against Mendez. All of this made me worry even more.

The door of the shack was narrow and looked as if it would fall apart to dust at the slightest touch when we arrived. Mendez, looking a little unnerved by having to slither through the crowd, didn't pay any attention to that detail. He pulled out an old rusty key, unlocked the door and hushed me and my mentor into the dimly lit room. Then he threw another glance out of the door, scanning the outdoors for unwanted listeners one more time and closed the door, locking it behind us. The room reminded me a bit of 181st, what instantly resulted in a spike piercing the stone surrounding my heart. Almost the same constellation of chairs and couches, paired with a small dangling headlight from the ceiling, next to a low table. What would I give to go back and sleep in my bed one more time, wake up and be greeted by the sweet sooty air of my town and have a nice unspectacular breakfast with Kenny. But all of that was no more, all I would find would either be blackened stumps of our former house or a Desmo jumping into my arms from the nest made out of carcasses on my sleeping spot.

Sitting down on the two damp chairs, Mendez ripped me out of my thoughts as he threw up the question, "So, what are you doing with Vulture around? I mean, he is not the kind of man who just enjoys happy family dinners." I didn't know what to answer, I had always asked myself the same. Why would a stalker, who lived on the irradiated surface, miles away from the safe womb of the metro, even consider to have more than just a few seconds of contact with us? What could be so important that he abandoned the plains of madness just to be able to hang out with a kid and her adoptive father?

"Is it worrying that I can't answer this question?", I answered with striking uncertainty marking my words. The questions in my head were evolving to a minor headache when more and more of them started to fill my mind. I could see that Mendez had noticed just that and was now looking at Kenny. My mentor looked just as clueless as I felt, his gaze wandering the ground in front of his feet.

"You know, Vulture is a man of logic and rational thinking. He has no family left here, nothing binds him to the mortal realm and that's exactly why he is a stalker. That man never does anything without thinking about it at least twice, about the use something gives him and what consequences his actions might have in the future. So now, reconsidering your thoughts, why did he look for you?", the man continued his questioning with his arms intertwined and a look of skepticism in his hard orbs. But I knew he was hiding something; he knew the answer to what he had just asked. There was a light in his eyes, telling me that he was testing both of us, how much intelligence we really inherited.

"Don't you see we don't kno-", Kenny tried to intervene but I interrupted him mid-sentence. "He is hiding." Mendez nodded in approval.  
"Right answer. A hundred dollars are yours. Now the one million question, what is he hiding of?" Once again, a question I had asked myself a thousand times before. The dark walls seemed to grow closer and try to crush us all as I tried to think with a confused side look from Kenny. There weren't many possibilities, he could be either a criminal, a coward or... maybe, he was someone who simply didn't want to attract attention of a certain faction.

"The scar...", I mumbled under my breath, the person opposite's eyes seemed to glow for a quick moment before he nodded.  
"You are on the right path. Of course, you can't know the whole truth about your "friend". But I suppose you want to hear about it, right?"

I could feel Kenny's look dwelling on me without even checking. I knew that he was against digging our noses into other people's matters but my curiosity didn't allow me to resist the urge to uncover everything about the man shrouded in thick metal armor and mask, always keen to keep his identity a secret. "Tell me then...", my voice managed to express as my chest tried to fight the feeling of entering a point of no return. And I was right with that feeling how I would discover just days after. With one last ominous glance the general started to tell the story of Vulture. 

"You know," the man started off, "Vulture was once nothing more but a citizen. He had a wife, kids and a normal life. After the bombs fell, he and his family survived and got into the metro. That was where he met me and some of my other companions. I was military back then, one of the first people to escort civilians into the safe tunnels beneath Manhattan. Vulture and I always got along nicely, one heart and one soul how you might say. He did everything to help me and the rest of what had remained of the government to organize the stations. Together with him and the others, we built up the first thriving faction of this new world: The Remnants. Everything was fine and dandy until something happened in his station. I was living nearby at that time but I still can't put all the pieces together. Some kind of freaky accident that set off a couple of explosions, breaching the perimeter and letting in a horde of Desmo's."

My heart skipped a beat. Was it possible that he meant the same event that had changed my own life? Was it possible that I Vulture had been one of the soldiers patrolling back and forth between the darkness of the tunnels and the light of a safe haven? But since I didn't want to interrupt the general in his telling, I kept my mouth shut and tried to follow his tale.

"We found him covered in blood, stumbling towards the guards at my station. He couldn't manage much more than a low mumble about what had happened to him. However, I noticed that neither his wife, nor his kids were with him. I realized what must have happened, they had been killed in the attack and he had run off in horror."

A short silence arose as he looked in our faces and examined our expressions. I was sure that he could see the recognition flaring in our eyes when he mentioned the Desmo invasion but, much to my surprise, he didn't mention it in any way. Instead, he nodded as if to make a point before continuing.

"However, when he woke up and we tried to question him, he didn't tell us anything. Other survivors told us what had happened afterwards but he, he just kept his mouth shut, didn't eat, drink and sleep for a whole week. He looked like he was going to die of shock when he suddenly started getting better. Growing stronger and stronger by the day it looked like he was recovering, but that was just physically. Mentally, he was and still is a broken man. Vulture changed his name and made me promise I would never tell it to anyone so he could move on, forget the past and act in the present again.

And that was exactly what he did, he trained to become a real soldier in just under a year, topping every recruit we had ever had. Whatever fueled him, whether it was anger, hate or grief, it made him exceed every expectation our superiors had set up for him. Soon he had surpassed my rank and got his own squad to take on reconnaissance missions from the surface or charge into battle. Vulture was the pride of the whole Remnant faction, the perfect soldier, killing without flinching and never failing in his missions. But, again, nothing lasts forever." 

So many questions were throbbing in my brain that it was almost as bad as when the dark creature had entered my mind. My brain seemed to spark as it got overloaded with so much information. Mendez explanation gave Vulture's behavior a background, something that explained why he was always so calculating and cold when he was talking about jobs he had taken to get some money. He and I were more connected than I had thought, both of us had the same wound ripped into our hearts, fueling us with self-hatred and anger to continue our journey inside the cold intestines of the dead earth. But where everything started to make sense on one hand, it started to get more and more confusing on the other. When the stalker had been so good and highly respected in one of the leading factions of the metro, why did he flee and hide in our presence?

"What happened?", Kenny asked and took a sip from the flask hanging on his belt. He shot me a side glance and offered me the metal canteen but I just shook my head in response, I needed my head to be as clear as possible right now. Mendez looked at him and I could see the uneasiness in his eyes, like a flame slowly suffocating in an airless space.

"There was an all-out war between us and another faction, you might have heard about it. They called themselves: Delta, and they were some of the most highly trained troops we had ever faced. Vulture and his squad were out to capture a VIP from behind the enemy lines, other than that it was a normal, almost too easy mission. But they were betrayed by one of their own, Vulture lost his whole squadron in a firefight and he himself got captured."

I flinched as I understood what must have happened. Prisoners of war had no privileges down here anymore, all these basic human rights that had held the nations of the old world together had stayed on the charred surface above. When someone had information and got captured, their future didn't look very nice. Torture and execution were held at a daily basis, even though there were some stations who swore not to follow their neighbors and tried to keep the old rules. But when Vulture had been captured by the Delta, a terrorist organization that was infamous for their brutal treatment of outsiders and prisoners, I could understand why he didn't want to come back.

I turned my face towards Mendez and our eyes met. He understood that I needed information about Vulture, the man who, next to Kenny, had protected me so many years of my life. And unlike Kenny, I had absolutely no idea who the man in metal armor was.

"The Delta was destroyed years ago, right?", Kenny threw in before Mendez could continue. He was right, I had heard about their fatal defeat once already.  
"Their station got blown up, didn't it?", I added. The general in front of us agreed silently.

"Indeed. We got some satchel charges inside after we had raided the prison in there, got Vulture and some other boys out after some hard fight. He was... well, not the same anymore. This man, who had fought his way across the whole metro and the surface with the Lazarus Brigade, cried in my arms like a little child. The Delta had broken him beyond repair, like a stick that you glue together for the hundredth time and then rip it apart again."

I remembered the white lines beneath Vulture's balaclava, the same ones he had frantically tried to hide. "That scar on his face, it's from back then?"  
"It is. They used a glowing knife to edge the word "coward" into his cheek after they had forced him to relive the night his family died."

Everything was coming together when he said that. The look in the stalker's eyes when he noticed that I had seen some part of the scar, his soft attitude towards me. He probably saw me as his second daughter, someone who had taken the place of his own flesh and blood. Kenny and he were so much alike, both of them stood up for the same ideals, acted in the same manner and had both lived through horrific experiences. 

"Oh my god...", a whisper left my dry lips as realization flooded my system. Kenny looked like he was thinking just the same. His undamaged eye darted across the room, looking for some kind of hidden camera filming our reactions and Vulture jumping out of some corner and yelling: "Gotcha!" But that didn't happen. Instead, Mendez shifted around uneasily and wiped his forehead. Thick droplets of sweat poured out underneath his beret, coloring it in different shades of dark green.

"Excuse me for a second, this story... reminded me of my own past." Before I could ask him further, he simply lifted end of his trousers to reveal a black, glistening metal construction. Brown stains of rust covered the part ending in his shoes, scratches and bruises ran along the rest until there was a point where cold metal melted into warm flesh right underneath his knee. A heap of air entered my lung when I breathed in loudly as I saw his stump. The light in his eyes flickered in shame and pain.

"Happened right after we got him out. Stepped on a landmine they placed right outside their doorstep to cripple anyone who might try to get prisoners out.", he explained and dropped the cloth again, hiding the lifeless extension of his body.  
"Anyway, we're not here to discuss the wounds and tales of an old man. What does Vulture want?"

My mouth felt so dry that I had to force the words out of it. But as much as I tried, no tune left my lips. Instead, Kenny said: "He told us you could take care of us in case he didn't return from some kind of hunt." Our host raised one of his dark brows as he inspected Kenny's eyes meeting his own. The old floorboards creaked underneath him as he made his way to our side. Under his careful view, I placed my backpack on the wood and opened one of the hidden pockets inside. The warmth of the paper seemed to quiet my heart down to a reasonable degree, its presence made me feel comfortable out of a yet unknown reason.

"That's what he gave us for you.", I told the general and put the envelope in his rough palm. I didn't know why but I wasn't quite sure if this letter had been meant to be seen by the man's eyes. Vulture's explanation had been quite shady and unspecified. Mendez pulled out a small case and flipped it in the air, exposing a long, wickedly pointy blade. With that, he dug into the smooth outlines of white, ripping them apart in a straight and precise line.  
"Let's see what this is all about...", I heard him mumble under his breath when he used his clean fingernails to pull out the letter from the inside. The yellow letter inside was written in distinctive squiggly letters

Mendez eyes wandered along the lines, deciphering in within seconds but his eyes widened with every word he read. The light above flickered as the generators on the far end of the station got resupplied with fresh fuel, creating a tensed atmosphere until the general broke the silence.

He simply stared at me, unable to say anything. Only a couple of seconds later, he got ripped out of his seemingly pensive trance he said, "That letter isn't for me, it's for you Clementine..."


	11. Chapter Ten

_**Your father asked me to tell you how proud he is and that he loves you...**_

About half an hour later, I was sitting in the far corner of a dimly lit bar. Music echoed off the wooden ceiling and happy laughter followed soon. The smashing of glass against glass was faintly audible when a group of four to five men said their cheers before gulping down the sickishly sweet smelling alcohol. But I didn't even listen to the commotion around me, all I did was sitting in a lonely chair, staring down at the fateful piece of yellow paper lying in front of me. An empty bottle of Cola stood nearby, I had drunken it in the first few minutes after I had arrived. It had tasted flavorless, like some weird self-made lemonade with the wrongest composition imaginable. But I suppose that everything would have tasted like that after the shock of having read Vulture's message.

It hadn't been too long, but there was more than just a little weight put into his words. The squiggly letters seemed to peel themselves off the material that once had been a living and breathing tree every time I tried to read it anew. With another shaky breath, I attempted another try to decipher the words and understand their importance to my future live.

_Dear Clementine,_

_If you read this, it is probably too late already and something has either happened to me or I had to abandon you somewhere safe, or even both. If the last one is the case, then you will know the truth about me by now, I suppose Mendez is still an old blabbermouth like he always was. Anyway, I need you to listen. Read this letter carefully and then burn it, this message is far too important to be read by some stranger or worse. To answer your burning question: yes, I was there in the night your station got overrun and your mother died. And yes, I didn't help her because I ran away like a coward. _

_I do not know if you forgive me for that, and I can certainly understand when you don't. But there's one thing you have to know. When you told me about that strange dark creature, standing upright and speaking in your head like a human, I got reminded of what I experienced back then. The same exact thing, Clem. Whatever it is, whatever ventures around in those wastes, it was there when it happened. The same kind of fiery explosion ripped down our walls so a horde could get in how it has happened many times before. And I know why we couldn't hold back, why the Desmo's didn't even flinch when we shot them. They were driven by fear, fear is their weapon. Fear is like a toxin; it starts by getting under your skin until it reaches your heart and brain. An animal can do a hell lot of harm when it's driven by that sensation, imagine what a human could do. _

_I've been hunting that thing since then, I followed it all across the metro. And I found it, the nest or hive or whatever it lives in. It's located in the ruins of the old Central Park Zoo. I will try to go there and destroy it, but if you read this, it's probably too late for me and I failed. If that happened, I need you to look for the Remnants and tell them what happened, this threat needs to be eradicated. I know it is much to ask for but please, this isn't just about me, it's for the good of all the people around here, everyone close to you and me._

_Oh yeah, before I forget it again, your father asked me to tell you how proud he is and that he loves you._

_Yours sincerely,  
Vulture_

When the pianist on the other half of the room got replaced with a new, fresher one, the announcement drowned in the buzzing inside my skull. The text was much to take, but the last sentence was just... I didn't even know what to feel: Happiness that my father might be alive? Anger because he never showed up? Worry about if he was all right? Against all of that, another thought was gnawing on my insides. Doubt.

What if Vulture was just trying to play a sick game? He might be using the excuse of knowing where my father was just to make sure I would follow him without thinking about it twice. But could he be such a twisted person? No one with a normal mind would try to something like that, on the other hand, that man wasn't someone with a normal mind. He had been abused to the farthest point, had that been enough to make him so paranoid that he had to build himself a second chance way just to save his skin.

"This is so fucked..." I whispered to myself until my voice drowned in an alluring melody coming from the pianist. For a couple of seconds, I felt like the stream of the music ripped me out of my misery, making me float somewhere above all of this messy earth, far far away from my worries. Whoever was playing now, they had a hell lot of talent. But nothing was able to keep me off my mind for too long, so, after the music stopped, I returned back to my puzzled thoughts.

I didn't know what to do, Kenny had stayed with Mendez to discuss what to do about 181st and the people who could still be running around, looking for safety. They had given me some privacy as they understood how hard it would hit me what was written down in neat black letters. And I for my part, not knowing what their concern meant, had willingly accepted the offer to visit the town's bar which had brought up some bad memories.

When I had finished reading for the first time, I had been unable to get its meaning until the hundredth time revealed the big secret. But now, another contradiction opened up. Should I go after Vulture? If he knew where my father was then I had to interrogate him about it. And then there was the impending doom of the dark creatures coming nearer every second. If Vulture was right about what he had said, then they weren't just responsible for the death of my best friends, but for my whole family.

"I should have shot that goddamn thing when I had the chance!" I hissed towards an invisible listener. Cold anger and hate clawed around my heart; everything was starting to come together now. That was why the creature had approached me so easily without being suspicious. It knew me! If it had been there when my old home had been overrun and followed Vulture in some kind of way, it had known me for a very long time.

How was I going to explain to Kenny that we had to move out immediately again? I knew he wouldn't be happy about the fact that I wanted to seek out the biggest faction in the metro, having to get through hordes of irradiated beasts before that. And I knew as good as he did that the Desmo's from 181st would be stalking the dark corners of every tunnel in a mile radius. But I just had to find Vulture!

"What am I gonna do now?" I thought out loud and raised my eyes to look at the small dance-floor in front of me. It was now crowded with people who were enjoying themselves while the music from the piano continued to echo off the walls, soft and flawless. It was then when I decided to head out alone, I could not give Kenny that much stress and worries just because I had to move out because of something that might just be a lie. Of course, my heart felt like it was about to explode when I made my mind up, leaving my mentor behind would be the hardest thing I had ever done, even though I had always dreamed about roaming the metro on my own.

"Hello there doll, ya need any help?"  
The dim smoke of thoughts in my head lifted in the same second my head did, the voice had come out of nowhere. My gaze caught the silhouette against the light, the outlines of a man standing in front of my table and observing me from behind his dark sunglasses. I studied his stature and looks before coming to the conclusion that this guy was very shady, quite literally. His black toned glasses reflected my mirror image back to me as I tried to look him in the eyes.

"What do you want?" my voice hissed as it left my lips, suspicion marking them with an indelible taste of mistrust. Whoever he was, if he was friendly or not, trusting someone in the metro is a risky thing. Sometimes the people you once called best friends betray you for just a small price, always be sure to check whether trust is the right thing to show. Hostility is always the first everyone gets from each other, it's like a natural defense system we use to ensure our lives aren't at stake.

The stranger backed off and grinned, his teeth were coated with a slight layer of yellow. "Woah there doll, no need to be rude to each other. I'm just here to help," he told me before sitting down on a chair on the other side of the table. Then he lifted his black hat and put it onto the hard surface of the bar table with a soft thump. I stared at him with unchanged mistrust, he looked like he could be some kind of mercenary, there were many running around in the cities, mercilessly killing their targets for cartridges.

"I asked you a question, what do you want?" With my eyes still piercing through his dark shades, he continued to make himself comfortable on his seat. Then the man pulled out a picture and passed it on to me. My fingers touched the flat paper before I looked at it. Black and white dots mended into a scene that was very well known to me. The image showed two men, standing in an abandoned maintenance tunnel leading on into the darkness. One of them was turned away from the camera but considering his silhouette it was very likely that it was the same man sitting in front of me. The other guy was grinning in my face with a look of unbreakable happiness, his blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark.

With confusion in my eyes I glared at the person opposite and asked, "What am I supposed to do with this? If you want to ask me whether I know that guy then I will have to disappoint you because I don't-" The man raised his hand and said, "Noooo, I don't need any information about him. I actually don't need _you_, but I know you need _me_." I was even more confused than before, what was he talking about? I didn't need to dig deeper with words, my face seemed to have been more than enough of a question for the stranger.

"I saw a little of that letter yours. Seems to be quite a bummer for you, am I right?" "It's none of your business you jerk!" I hissed towards his smile. But it seemed that I had just given him the reaction he wanted to get.  
"I know, I know. But I know what definitely fits into my business. I know you want to go after that guy who wrote you, everyone with the right mind would do that. And I happen to know a guy who can get you out of here," he explained and raised his finger again, this time to point at himself. My eyebrow raced upwards.  
"And why wouldn't I be able to get out of here myself? Also, what the hell, have you ever heard of personal space?"

A laugh escaped the man's lips as a reaction, only centimeters would have sufficed for his shades to fall off. When he finally calmed down, he picked up his hat to place it back on his scalp with a wide but malicious smile I couldn't quite categorize back then. His eyes pierced through the toned glass right into mine as our gazes met.  
"The station is on lock-down because of what happened a 181st. The guards are not allowed to let anyone through the gates in either direction to exclude a perimeter breach. I am the only guy around here who knows how to get out without alerting anyone, I am your ticket out, doll."

I had the strange desire to slap him if he called me that once again so I screwed up my eyes and said, "Call me doll once more and you can piss off without your balls." Adding a coquettish smile, it seemed like his seemed to grow less bright.

"Okay then, Jeez, no need to get violent. Anyway, back to our deal. I can get you out of here, for the right price of course. I'm ready for it if you give me a hundred cartridges, doll."  
My fists clenched in a sudden impulse, I didn't have much money, a hundred cartridges were a huge price and I would have to chamfer for a few days to get all of it back. Adding up to that, I wouldn't be able to get any more equipment for the journey. As much as I wanted to say no, as much as I wanted to just leave and get this done myself, he was right, I needed his inside knowledge. And again, even though I didn't know him and didn't know if I could trust him, I had to take the chance, this was way too important for me.

"How about something else. I give you fifty and you can keep your balls for calling me doll again," I responded and pulled out my combat knife to clean my fingernails while wearing the same smile from before. The sound of him gulping was clearly audible as he considered the offer. "Seventy-five and if I say it again you can...uhm yeah..." "Sixty-five and no cartridge more, keep that last part of the offer standing though." He grinned. "It's a deal! We head out in forty-five minutes, look for house number seventeen, get some gear and maybe even some spare filters in case we have to make a detour to the surface."

Forty minutes later I was standing in an abandoned corner of the station next to an old rusty red door. The paint was peeling off and even though the material seemed to be very old, the door didn't bulge when I tried to open it. A small keyhole was located just underneath the handle, it looked well-oiled and often used with only small traces of rust running down the screws holding everything together. Not even my knife had had any effect even though it was freshly tempered. The fateful number seventeen was dangling above, emitting a low creaking from time to time when gravity tried to rip it down.

I shouldered my rifle and the hard shell of plastic rubbed against the back of my arm. It had been hard enough to decide that leaving Kenny here was the right call, but stealing the rifle together with some supplies now resting in my backpack had been even harder. Kenny and I had promised ourselves to never lie to each other, never mind steal. And here I was, wearing a bag full of stolen goods that had belonged to both of us.

"Clementine, what are you doing here?" the subconscious voice in my head asked, "You are hunting shadows, is it really worth to throw away everything you have to follow a clue that doesn't have to be real? And what about Kenny?" My thoughts did somersaults as guilt gnawed on my insides. Pushing them away was impossible. Even worse, all those feelings only intensified as the guy who was supposed to get me out of here started to be late.

Minutes passed like hours and finally, after waiting half an hour more that it had been planned, he appeared, carrying nothing more than his usual outfit. "What took you so long?" I asked, this time in a little friendlier tone than I had talked to him in the bar. He watched me with a look of surprise.  
"Woah, that almost sounded non-hostile. Did you drink something to get your mood up? If you did then you have courage going out there without being sober-" "Look," I interrupted, "we got off to a bad start. I'm not always that asshole-ish like I was in the bar."

His eyes widened even more without me being able to identify his eye color. "Is this an apology?"  
I scowled at him. "If you take it as one, yes. Let's just say I'm grateful that at least someone wants to help me in some way." His head tilted sideways a little, skepticism laid in his words as he said, "And you are sure that you want to trust me?" I mimicked his gesture, still uncertain about his motives. "What do I have for another choice?"

"You don't have much of one but yer right, can't keep that attitude towards someone I will be travelling with. So, let's press the restart button. Hello, my name is Keye, what is yours?" A smile was carved into my face when he extended his hand. "Clementine, nice to meet you." Then I took his hand and squeezed it in a firm handshake. This introduction made me like him way more than before, creating a healthier atmosphere as it had been existing in the bar.

"Well then Clementine, let's get this over with. It's gonna be a long travel to the next city. Welcome to the tunnels!" He told me all of this while pulling out a big Key and sticking it into the lock on the door with the sound of metal colliding. With a loud click, the door opened to reveal a dark corridor leading on into the shadow realm. Keye hid the metal device in his pocket again and imitated a formal bow. "Ladies first!"

I looked back one more time. The lights inside the small hut Kenny and I had been giving were turned down to a minimum, indicating that my mentor was probably asleep by now. I'd have loved to run back and hug him one last time and fear started to boil up in my heart but against all what my heart was saying, I entered the tunnel. Behind me my companion closed the door, killing off any comforting light from the outside to leave us in an impenetrable cloud of darkness.


End file.
